Of, For and By the people

Democracy as we know it is a compilation of principles and subtleties. Our forefathers put a lot of thought into what we should look and act like as a nation. Equality, the rule of law and a representative government looked good on paper. The application process has become muddled. 

The soup de jour for political scientists is more often that not is as a strict interpretation of the constitution or as a living document that must be amended to fit our contemporary society ? You might be tempted to say that conservatives want the old time religion and the liberals want the church of what’s happening now. You are probably not far from the truth. 

Right now let’s just chat about what is going down in just a few short days. We have all had to endure the idiocy of mudslinging and wild accusations. Truth either way is out the window. Negative ads supposedly do the trick. Like the Buffalo Bills and Kansa City Chiefs it comes down to who has the ball last. Then judgement day. 

Let’s get crazy for a moment and assume we will all accept the outcome. Counts and recounts really do expose the flaws but we actually come as close as one can to getting it right. The underlying message is what gets to me. If I win, you hate me. If you prevail, I will do my best to have you fail over the next two to four years. 

Think about that for a second. 51% are going to say we won. 49% say we lost. 154.6 million people voted 2020. 78 million were happy and 76 million were really pissed off. Even worse well over 50% on the short end believe the election was stolen. 40million plus! To have functioning democracy we have to have faith that the system works. That is a lot of people who are either delusional or refuse to accept that fact, even after some 45 cases before many Republican appointed judges. 

When all the players become seated in the legislative chambers, you have another foil for the people’s will. The system was invented to give fair voice to all sides. No one should prevail in a dictatorial way but we have figured a way around that. Forget about your constituents you are first and foremost a Democrat or Republican. You hear cogent arguments for and against but leave your brain or conscience at the shit can at the door and vote in lockstep with the bosses. 

The Manchins, Romneys and Cheneys are labeled traitors. You want to overhaul the system. You want to cross the aisles because their side makes sense but don’t you dare. “We have our ways to convince you” just like the interrogation room in an old war movie. There is no negotiating or attempt at consensus. You are with us or agin us. 

Another little game is the introduction of bills. Everyone has a right to put something forward that would hopefully further the cause of all sorts of people in these United States.  As soon as a bill is introduced it is assigned to a committee or subcommittee for analysis and polishing. The bill has to be reported out of committee for consideration by the Congress as a whole. 

I will share with you that I have been researching this process for several days as to how many bills have been introduced and how many have come to fruition. The answers are vague and contradictory at best. As of March it seems over 10,000 bills were introduced in this session and 85 were passed into law. 

• Overall, 59% of legislation passed had bipartisan support, with at least one Democrat and Republican cosponsor.
• Four bills had more than 300 cosponsors. Two awarded Congressional Gold Medals to the 13 service members killed in Afghanistan and the Harlem Hellfighters, a Black WWI infantry unit.
• The other two provided service dogs to veterans and help to ALS patients.

Sorry, I gave you Factoids early but this is mind boggling!  Schumer, McConnell and Pelosi constantly say that don’t have time to get to a bunch of pressing issues. Is this the best we got?

Numbers don’t lie. 

Let’s not spare the Executive branch. Presidents of all stripes have taken to Executive orders. Uncle Joe’s forgiving of college debt and Trump’s border regs are just the tip of the iceberg. Some say they had to because to the gridlock in Congress. Some say they are violating the Constitution. Where do we go next? The Supreme Court of course.Yikes!

I would hope the highest court in the land is of good intentions  and impartial as Solomon would be. I have a hard time when various members go out and lecture as to this or that fine point of law or even worse the social construct. Stick to what you do best. Maybe our investigative world requires constant dialogue but Supreme Courts and Grand Juries have to have some sort of non disclosure. 

People, I am trying to be positive and optimistic. I believe that vast majority of all of us are both decent and true of heart. I despise the politician in the global sense. The con, the maneuverer, the underhanded and the slime. That’s not being moralistic but stating the case for a group of us that hope that truth, honor and the American Way will win out. Sounds like an old Superman lead in. It is! I plagiarized! String me up!

How can we bring us back to a point that is not decrepit and broken? How can we make our voices heard? Not so long ago a guy vowed to clean up the swamp. I think he made it worse. I don’t see anybody out there that is our hope…at the moment!

My kids are somewhat disillusioned. They have brought up more than once we need a third party.

Not spoilers but a real choice. The wags say no way. Maybe that is why we are in this predicament? They have called the shots. Are we that impotent? I hope not?

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

Researchers have found that anger motivates people to engage more than any other emotion, and candidates have found over the years that if they’re willing to sling mud in ads, their supporters are more willing to show up at the polls.

The House of Representatives has averaged 146.7 “legislative days” a year since 2001, according to records kept. That’s about one day of work every two and a half days. The Senate, on the other hand, was in session an average of 165 days a year over the same time period

There are 20 standing committees in the House and 16 in the Senate. There are five special committees in each chamber. These can have 50 or more in committee staff. And they didn’t want the Donald to build a wall. Yikes!