A few US political thoughts

[redbird]

• Dubya has made it clear that, in his mind, the Muslim has no rights that the Christian is bound to respect, and his administration has argued in court that nobody has any rights that the President of the United States is bound to respect. What was that about the Dred Scott decision, again?


• The people of the United States have the right to know whether their president is a crook.


• No, Kerry isn't perfect. That's not the standard. The standard is that he is the best available choice. It doesn't matter that I think my mother might do a better job--she's not eligible. It doesn't matter that I'd rather be voting for Howard Dean. The point is to get Bush out of there, so we can have a chance to choose again in 2008.

Comments

[klingonlandlady.livejournal.com]

Is there any precedent for this sort of outcome?
In other countries, plenty. (Hitler was democratically elected...) This country has managed to spend its first 230 years as a republic. The Roman republic lasted about 425 years before essentially becoming a dictatorship.

From the outside the situation looks like a conflict between two individuals more than two parties.
That's how the press dramatizes it- it makes a simpler story that way. The individuals are fielded by the parties (and other backers), with the hope that they are popular spokesmen who can win an election, then be influenced to push through policies favored by these backers. Do you really think Bush is smart enough to have gotten where he is without wealthy and powerful people behind the scenes?

Really this is how all such systems work, and checks and balances are supposed to keep it reasonably fair.... it's just that the band of ultra-right-wing neocons and wealthy corporate types behind Bush seem extra-willing to circumvent the rules to get and hold onto power.