[geeks] I just saw...

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

On Wed, 8 Nov 2006, Lionel Peterson wrote:

>> This is worse than "Vote for me, and I'll pass laws that take money
>> away from the evil rich/poor/etc. and give it to you!"?
>
> Well, the first one is against the law - you are not allowed to sell
> your votes, or recieve direct compensation for your vote in any manner
> (my wording), the second is the way our government works, so yes, the
> first is worse.

There is a difference between "right" and "legal".  I don't see any
difference between selling the votes one by one and selling them class
by class.

Excusing systemic inappropriate behavior as "the way our government
works" is a symptom of a far deeper problem.  Please show me where in
the Constitution that the US Congress is established as a charity.

> Imagine the fellow that wants to take over the US government, all it
> would take is, say, a few dollars per vote in the right districts to
> collect enough electoral votes to become president...

As opposed to now where it just takes a lot of dollars to buy your way
up the ladder of one of the two dominant parties and then a lot more
money to run a successful media campaign?

If we're going to get incompetent malevolents in office anyway, I'd
rather see the politicians' campaign money spent buying a million folks
a pint of beer each than deepening the pockets of other politicians, the
media machine, and the special interests.

Of course, the optimum solution would be one where the future of our
nation had more depth of field in the American consciousness than a
stupid red team vs. blue team football game, but given the dumbing-down
of our schools and our epidemic level of malnutrition, I suppose I
should be happy that the governor of Texas was re-elected by 12% of
registered voters while he has an approval rating in the low-to-mid 40s.

NOBODY gives a damn, NOBODY is paying attention, and NOBODY seems to
think they can be anything a Democrat or a Republican or get behind
anyone other than a Democrat or a Republican, AND THAT PISSES ME THE
FSCK OFF!

-- 
Jonathan Patschke  ) "Some people grow out of the petty theft of
Elgin, TX         (   childhood.  Others grow up to be CEOs and
USA                )  politicians."              --Forrest Black