Democracy In Distress: Demcocracy

Showing posts with label Demcocracy. Show all posts

Thursday, April 23, 2015

I’m Calling It: The Death of Politics in America

Obviously, this blog is pretty much dead.

I've been trying to find the desire to write a “closing” post for a long time now, but even just doing that felt exhausting. But today, I found the article below, which pretty much sums up everything I've been meaning to write.

American Politics: Why the Thrill Is Gone - The New Yorker:

It might not be wise for a sometime political journalist to admit this, but the 2016 campaign doesn't seem like fun to me. Watching Marco Rubio try to overcome his past support for immigration reform to win enough conservative votes to become the Mainstream Alternative to the Invisible Primary Leader—who, if there is one, will be a candidate named Bush—doesn't seem like fun. Nor does analyzing whether Chris Christie can become something more than the Factional Favorite of moderate Republicans, or whether Ted Cruz’s impressive early fundraising will make him that rare thing, a Factional Favorite with an outside chance to win. If this is any kind of fun, it’s the kind of fun I associate with reading about seventeenth-century French execution methods, or watching a YouTube video of a fight between a python and an alligator. Fun in small doses, as long as you’re not too close.

Is this a permanent shut down? Who knows? In 2012, this blog had a brief burst of life with that year’s presidential election, it is always possible that the same could happen again.

However, the fact that I wrote just about everything there is to say about 2016 back in March of 2012 (Putin, Clinton, & Bush… Oh my! The current, dynastic period of American history), I see little hope that the upcoming elections are going to be nothing more than another agonizing shit fest of incompetent journalism, blazing lies fueled by bonfires of corporate cash, voters too ill informed, mostly through no fault of their own, to make competent decisions, and everything else that has come to signal the death of any true democratic spirit in America.

Beyond the presidency, things are even worse.

We can call it gridlock in Congress, but that is not what it is. More and more I see this as being a sign of the increasing irrelevance of our republic’s institutions. The partisan stonewalling may seem like political maneuvering to those involved, but all it has really done is remove an entire branch of government from any practical leadership role in our country.

And the Supreme Court? Man… At best, hanging on by a thread. At worst? Not representing the interests of the Constitution any more, and one bad nomination away from eliminating any debate on the point.

The republic is over, democracy is dead… Let the oligarchy reign!

UPDATE: 4/24/15

I will still be posting to the Facebook page, but not as often and I'm going to try to keep it to more focused on thoughtful, relevant articles with some depth and less on silly memes that are little more than red meat for the like-minded masses.

Monday, March 05, 2012

Putin, Clinton, & Bush… Oh my! The current, dynastic period of American history

Observers Detail Flaws in Russian Election - NYTimes.com:

Mr. Putin, who has already served eight years as president and four years as prime minister, won a new six-year term on Sunday with an official tally of 63.75 percent of the vote. He has already suggested that he might run again in 2018, potentially extending his tenure as Russia’s pre-eminent leader to 24 years, on a par with Brezhnev and Stalin.

Before we get all shocked about Putin and say, "It could never happen here!" think about this:

A likely list of US Presidents in a future text book...

1989 - 2021 or 2025 (32-34 years):
-Bush
-Clinton
-Bush
-Obama (almost Clinton & prominently featuring Clinton family members and former Clinton officials in the cabinet/administration)
-(Clinton or Bush likely)

Hillary and Jeb have to be considered the initial front runners in 2016.

I am starting to think of our current period as the Dynastic Period in American history.

Of course, there have been a few more shenanigans in the Russian elections than the American elections. 2000 not withstanding, though, Americans are clearly choosing their leaders from these prominent families.

Recently, I read an article saying that Jeb may even jump in this year to save the GOP from their circular firing squad. And I think there is little doubt that Hillary will take a shot at 2016. It wouldn’t even be the most shocking event ever if she ends up being on the 2012 ticket as VP.

In 2008, one of the main reasons why I supported Obama in the primaries was that I felt having a 20 year stretch with only the last names Bush or Clinton residing in the White House was bad for America and bad for our democracy, even if we liked the people in office (or some of them).

Continuing this trend for another four to eight years? Having the potential for the Presidency to be passed back and forth between two families, if Hillary was elected twice, for nearly thirty years?

That is dangerous, I believe, for any democracy.

I suspect, though, that we may not be done with Presidents named Bush and Clinton.

I would be very surprised not to see either Hillary or Jeb picking up a nomination in the future, and 2016 may even end up being Bush v. Clinton in the general.

And they are young enough that both may eventually end up in the White House.

Picture this:

Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Bush, Clinton

If everyone gets two terms, that would be 44 years of dynastic presidencies with one, minor exception. Almost half a century.

Age may limit these far reaching possibilities.

Hillary will be 81 in 2028 and 86 in 2033 (end of the latest possible second term in this scenario).

Jeb will be 76 in 2028 and 80 in 2033.

In comparison, Ronald Reagan, our oldest president so far, was almost 70 when he was first inaugurated in 1981 and served until two weeks before his 78th birthday. He lived to age 93, but was crippled by Alzheimer's for, at least, the last 10 years of his life.

This article drifts a little towards the unsteady conspiracy theories from time to time, but it also makes plenty of solid points.

The Jeb Scenario: Can You Say “President Bush” Again? | Snip.it:

The Bushes are nothing if not resilient. George W. Bush, he of so few qualifications but with his own distinctive Bush personality and formidable charisma, came out of the dust of his father’s re-election defeat in 1992, stronger than his father ever was politically. And though W. is now persona non grata to many, his brother would come back as a significantly different brand. He’s widely regarded as more capable, much more focused, much better at delivering points. He’s able to pull off a kind of sober, reasonable persona, more stable than a Santorum or a Gingrich or most of the other contenders. Rich but not entitled. A kind of Romney—without the Romney.
And yet….And yet he is still a Bush. That means a great deal, because, putting aside all the stylistic differences, this is a clan with a mission. It’s a mission they’ll never talk about, beyond vague statements about a sense within the family of Duty to Nation. No, the Bush clan is the ultimate representative of the game plan of the one percent of the one percent. What they stand for in private is much, much more troubling than most Americans know. What I learned in the five years I spent investigating them—as they were going out of power the last time—shook me to my core.

from tag Conspiracy

Democracy In Distress: What do I believe in? The political world according to A. F. Litt

from tag Reagan

Democracy In Distress: Chart: Barack Obama & Ronald Reagan... Separated at birth?

from tag Democracy

from tag Obama

(more..)

Sunday, December 11, 2011

New Product: “Will Work For Democracy” Mug

Note: Cross posted from Rubble.

"Will Work For Democracy" - Large Mug

"Will Work For Democracy" Sign shot at the Occupy Portland launch rally on October 6, 2011

$13.99

http://www.cafepress.com/aflitt.602161919

Also available in black from deviantArt.

http://www.deviantart.com/print/23272916/

from tag Products

from tag Oregon

from tag portland

(more..)

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Updated - Occupy Oakland: Class warfare in America & widespread support for OWS

10:20 AM - New videos coming through...

Oakland Mayor Takes Heat on Facebook After Police Fire Tear Gas at OWS Protesters:

Oakland’s Police Department said in a statement that it used tear gas in defense after protesters threw objects at officers and, contrary to some reports, did not use rubber bullets or flash-bag grenades.

'via Blog this'

Excuse me? That is not what is shown in the videos. Someone has some explaining to do.

Moveon.org asks if this is what democracy looks like. Honestly, sometimes this is exactly what democracy looks like.

A better question: Is this what class warfare in modern America looks like?

Anonymous • OCCUPY OAKLAND: URGENT CALL FOR ASSISTANCE.:

Last night we faced an absolutely brutal assault by an army of the Oakland Police (with the help of cops from all over Northern California). Tear gas and flash bangs were fired into the camp where children were sleeping, people were beaten and shot with rubber bullets. The assault was also levied against our property in the camp, and the cops tried their best to completely destroy everything we had there. Almost every tent has been destroyed, many slashed with boxcutters, structures smashed, basically this was not an eviction, they came in to destroy everything we had. After they flattened our main camp, they also went to our small camp in Snow Park and repeated the process there.

Though we may be bloodied, we are even more determined to keep going. As we agreed upon in General Assembly, on the evening following any police assault on our camp, we will reconvening at the Oakland Public Library, on the steps. We will discuss our options and pick one, and then take action as a community to respond / rebuild our occupation. This is a big deal, we need everyone and their mother to come out, to help us reestablish and recommit to the occupation. They will not stop us. We will overcome this attack and emerge even stronger.

'via Blog this'

In other news...

Daily Kos: Occupy Wall Street already has at least as much support as tea party:
Four polls confirm that Occupy Wall Street has at least equaled, and likely surpassed, the tea party in terms of total number of supporters. No matter how polling firms phrase their questions, the tea party never comes out on top.
'via Blog this'

Occupy Oakland: Class warfare in America & widespread support for OWS