Who do you trust at a liars convention?

Republicans’ Deficit-Cut Pledge Lacks Specifics

After reading the article above, I was forced to think about the mass rhetoric that we are pummeled with on a daily basis. Who can we believe? The old joke popped into my head: "Q: How can you tell when a politician is lying to you? A: His lips are moving!" Most of the government has been there too long. The original mechanisms that were to keep the checks and balances have been broken for years. It is like putting up the Christmas lights when you go to vote. The whole string is not lighting up but it could just be one bulb that is out. We could just replace one bulb at a time until it lights, but what if it is more than one bulb? We could take each bulb out and test it, but how will we test it? Do we have a tester or do we have already have something that could used to tests them like a meter? What if the bulbs are OK and the wire is broken somewhere? The easiest, quickest and surest way to solve this is to replace all the bulbs with new. Less chance of one blowing out in the middle of the season and it would tell you if your wire was the problem.

We need to replace all of the members of congress and the rest of government with "new bulbs", bulbs that haven't been in the socket so long they are corroded there! If the structure of the government has been worn away till it's "wire" is broken, then we need to get a replacement that matches the original wire that the founding fathers started with. I realize that the few (too few) good politicians that are still in office would go in this purge also, but they would have a chance to try again once the system had been repaired. I know this sounds a bit like the Tea Party platform but I want to separate myself from that movement. They still have the ideology of the conservative left. The black and white of the liberal/conservative war is what got us here when very few people are completely one or the other. We need leaders not party mouth pieces. We need representatives of all the people and not just selected groups of people.

This will not at all be easy as the republic "for which it stands" is designed to promote individual rights above all else. That is the reason that the founders chose this type of government. They were looking for freedom and individual rights for this new country and its people, not another king. There is a point, when things are going good, that a country's mindset starts to shift however. When prosperity is reached, people start looking at social benefits to be provided by the government since all of their personal needs have been met. This is when general welfare, retirement and public services start taking center stage. That is where the advocates of pure democracy (a lot like socialism, but not) start pushing to the front and that is when the battle begins. As with any war, it is the innocent bystanders that get hurt the most and that is us!

The grand two party system

I know some will find this little piece of government reform hard to swallow but I believe this and hope to one day see it! We need to dissolve all political parties! There, I said it. A two party system is like a Baskin Robbins that only has vanilla or chocolate. I personally like to have a scoop of butter pecan now and then! What if you are conservatively liberal, which horse do you bet on in this race? You need to have more choice in your vote. I haven't voted for the "best man for the job" in years, I vote for the one that will hurt me the least!

All political contributions should go into a general fund that is to be distributed to the candidates evenly after the first phase of a 2-step nomination process. Lobbyist must contribute only to this fund and provide abstracts of their cause to all candidates to be reviewed and posted publicly. There is no direct contact with the officials elected through this method ever. If the abstract impresses enough members of the congress, then hearings can be held to get more information.

Phase-1 of the process would take the place of primaries. An information form is submitted by the candidate along with enough signed petitions to qualify for election as it stands now. The collective information about all candidates will be published to the public and a vote is held. The top five candidates from a region that position represents, along with incumbents wishing to be considered, will continue on to phase-2. During phase-2, the campaign funds are distributed equally between all candidates. No other funding can be used and all advertisement must go through an independent fact checking authority before it can be broadcast or published. Any action group material that addresses a candidate or issues being voted on must also pass the fact check first. The fact checking will be on a flat fee paid by the candidate or group. Finally, all elections will be based on popular vote so that every persons vote has the same weight.

None of this violates the rules of a republic (which we are, not the Orthodox Democracy that people seem to believe) with the possible exception of the ending of the electoral college. Think about this system. It would provide much more choice and equality to the process. You could call it fair and balanced but we know how that phrase has been abused.

Sad day for politics.

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A picture worth a lot of words.

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This could explain everything

There could be a perfect explanation for all the craziness in the fringe and it is contained in the research of David Dunning and Justin Kruger. These men came up with the Dunning-Kruger Effect. In their own words:

 "Overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it." 

 To boil this down, ignorant people always think they are right even when they aren't. On the other side, the more informed you are, the more likely you are to question your own conclusions. That is why the gorilla is quiet, he has low self esteem!

You can find their paper abstract here:

http://www.scirp.org/Journal/PaperDownload.aspx?paperID=883&fileName=Psych.20090100004_39584049.pdf

Welcome to my rant

I am so tired of the ravings of people that say they represent the people (they usually don't represent me) talking about issues of little value like they are huge while ignoring important issues. This isn't pro-right or pro-left. This is a page for the silent majority, the mute 500 pound gorilla in the middle of the country. Will everybody agree with what appears here? Only when the Winter Olympics are held in Hell! What this blog does is allow for the silence to be broken for this ape, even if it is only here. If you like it, let me know. If you don't.....shut up! No, tell me that too. I won't take this personal as long as you do the same.