trunkline/tom-totally agree. well said. when lower-to-middle class americans feel they have more to lose by complacency than action, then we might see a groundswell of something.
re:whoever referenced the bush 2 admin/military budget-this didnt change a whole hell of a lot in his tenure. its actually peaked in 2010(on a dems' watch), but rep or dem, 1962-2010 doesnt show that huge of a relative spike anywhere:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_S tates
chart on right midway down shows actual defense spending in inflation adjusted dollars. certainly doesnt look party-related.
kats wrote on Wed, 15 December 2010 13:56 |
No. Democracy doesn't work by voting once every four years and going to sleep. A citizen has to be constantly politically active and up to speed on the issues. If you hold your representatives accountable it DOES work. But it is easier to say it is broken.
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kats-i dont mean this facetiously, i want a "real answer" so to speak:
-for a citizen who votes in the primary election, mid-term election, all local elections, and calls their state rep to leave a message about their dissatisfaction with a bill/non-bill issue, what does "hold your representatives accountable" look like, in real terms?
does it look like someone taking an elected official hostage? "voting harder"? donating MORE to a campaign? throwing a brick through a state reps window? calling more often? in real world terms-actions-i'd like to know what you think people arent going to do tomorrow when they wake up that they should be doing.