Election 2010 (home, high school, live)

[supernerdgirl]

Originally Posted by sgresident

I don't know how anyone could vote for Blago ever again. the guy has no sense whatsoever. How about the CTA problem now..no money because they are giving away too many "free rides". His office says that it is not his fault.. who is he kidding. He personifies the "shoot first, ask questions later" personality. no clue.

His office is really saying that it's not his fault??? Whose fault is it then? because, JUST IN CASE ANYONE HAS FORGOTTEN, the free ride money issue is COMPLETELY his fault. Please don't forget the way he held us hostage in January two days before we almost lost half of our bus routes.

[JerichoHW]

Last election I voted for the Green Party guy, as Blago and Topenka were both awful choices.

[ccjarider]

Runninfeind,
Your post is accurate, true and well written. I also concur that too often simple minded people blurt out comments such as the whole thing is corrupt. It is not, while not perfect, no one has devised a better system.

I do not believe the strong socialist minded govt's of Europe and Canada are the answer. If that were the case, why do I work with so many European immigrants? One of the things that blew me away when I came to Chicago area is the huge # of immigrants from Europe living here. Don't get me wrong, I am ok with it but it points out that this country is still the shining beacon it always has been.

I vote Republican always, unless it is a primary and then I may crossover to vote Democrat to try and get the weaker candidate throught the primary.

[studedude]

Originally Posted by supernerdgirl

His office is really saying that it's not his fault??? Whose fault is it then? because, JUST IN CASE ANYONE HAS FORGOTTEN, the free ride money issue is COMPLETELY his fault. Please don't forget the way he held us hostage in January two days before we almost lost half of our bus routes.

You don't understand what he means when he says it's not his fault. He means that he is a pathological liar. He can't help himself. That combined with the inability to see past the end of his nose makes telling and giving anyone what the want (so he can get what he wants) unavoidable.

[supernerdgirl]

Originally Posted by studedude

You don't understand what he means when he says it's not his fault. He means that he is a pathological liar. He can't help himself. That combined with the inability to see past the end of his nose makes telling and giving anyone what the want (so he can get what he wants) unavoidable.

Oh, I know. I just wondered who his office is ACTUALLY blaming.

[At1WithNature]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

Runninfeind,
Your post is accurate, true and well written. I also concur that too often simple minded people blurt out comments such as the whole thing is corrupt. It is not, while not perfect, no one has devised a better system.

I do not believe the strong socialist minded govt's of Europe and Canada are the answer. If that were the case, why do I work with so many European immigrants? One of the things that blew me away when I came to Chicago area is the huge # of immigrants from Europe living here. Don't get me wrong, I am ok with it but it points out that this country is still the shining beacon it always has been.

I vote Republican always, unless it is a primary and then I may crossover to vote Democrat to try and get the weaker candidate throught the primary.

The bottomline is they are one in the same. If you want to be President, you have to be wealthy. bottomline, so right there the Presedential candidates are out of touch with the majority of American citizens. How many houses does your vote, McCain, have again? Oh, that's right...9! Yeah, I'm sure he can relate to my daily life and yours too.

What you are claiming that some do when you say "just blurt out the system is corrupt" is the exact same thing you are doing now when you say "it's the best system in the world." It's a generalization based in opinion and not fact.

Why do you work with so many immigrants? Maybe because they know that the majority of americans are apathetic and lazy and they can easily better themselves by working harder than many americans.

The bottomline is it does not matter who is in office. Do you know why? Because what matters is the people who vote them into office. And if those people have poor qualities, their elected official will reflect that no matter how many pie in the sky promises that they make before they are elected. As long as the American people continue to neglect what is moral, their elected officials wil continue to pump out empty promise after empty promise, thus being one in the same.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by ccjarider

I do not believe the strong socialist minded govt's of Europe and Canada are the answer. If that were the case, why do I work with so many European immigrants? One of the things that blew me away when I came to Chicago area is the huge # of immigrants from Europe living here.

That's completely ridiculous. Immigration from Western Europe has virtually come to a complete halt. A massive majority of European immigration today is from former Eastern Bloc countries, and NOT from Western Europe and Canada.

Originally Posted by ccjarider

I vote Republican always, unless it is a primary and then I may crossover
to vote Democrat to try and get the weaker candidate throught the primary.

You should be ashamed of yourself. Sabotage voting in a primary is an abuse of your voting rights. Do you have any moral compass whatsoever?

This is the effect of the mean-spirited politics put forth by blowhard jerks like Rush Limbaugh. It makes a mockery of the democratic system that so many people have fought and died for. Perhaps you need to go back to your high school civics course to learn about democratic ideals.

[runninfiend]

Originally Posted by At1WithNature

The bottomline is they are one in the same. If you want to be President, you have to be wealthy. bottomline, so right there the Presedential candidates are out of touch with the majority of American citizens. How many houses does your vote, McCain, have again? Oh, that's right...9! Yeah, I'm sure he can relate to my daily life and yours too.

You don't have to be wealthy to run for President, but yes, in the modern world you do need a lot of money to have a shot at winning. The fact is that most people who get themselves into a position to actually hold the nation's highest office are wealthy, although many of them gained their own wealth from their own labors, and a few were silver spoons.

Does that automatically make them out of touch? Maybe, but maybe not. I maintain that regardless of wealth, most presidential candidates got themselves there on the strength of their own ambition.

What you are claiming that some do when you say "just blurt out the system is corrupt" is the exact same thing you are doing now when you say "it's the best system in the world." It's a generalization based in opinion and not fact.

The bottomline is it does not matter who is in office. Do you know why? Because what matters is the people who vote them into office. And if those people have poor qualities, their elected official will reflect that no matter how many pie in the sky promises that they make before they are elected. As long as the American people continue to neglect what is moral, their elected officials wil continue to pump out empty promise after empty promise, thus being one in the same.

I don't know if it's "the best system in the world," but if you're holding out for utopia, you'll be waiting a while. I could rattle off a list of failed ones. In all, republican, representative government is preferable to me for the simple fact that power does ultimately rest with the people.

As to the second part of your statement, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote of the tyranny of the masses in American democracy in the 1830s, the notion that the masses may not be properly equipped to be equitable enough to listen to the minority or informed enough to make wise decisions.

In de Tocqueville's time and in our own today, republican government, or power from below, was the alternative to absolute monarchy, or power from above. I personally would rather have the power with the masses, even with the system being fraught with pitfalls, than have it in the hands of one or a few.

To my way of thinking, when you take the cynical view and refuse to participate in the democratic system, you do a disservice to the ideals of liberty that offered and continue to offer a greater margin of freedom to the citizen's of those societies than almost any other society since the formation of states.

I don't like or agree with many of the policies of not a few elected officials, am often disgusted by the level that candidates will stoop to get into office, and have my share of cynical days, BUT, I temper that by remembering what the alternative to no one participating in the system is--Tyranny.

Give me an imperfect democratic government over a smooth-running tyrannical one any day.

[lakecountylifer]

WIll George H be sprung from prison in 2010? IF so he has my vote (LOL)

[supernerdgirl]

Originally Posted by supernerdgirl

Oh, I know. I just wondered who his office is ACTUALLY blaming.

Never mind. According to the Red Eye, he's blaming the CTA for blaming old people for their problems. Somewhere in there he's forgotten that he's the one that vetoed the $37 some million for RTA's reduced fares/free rides... and by the way, evidently with that same signature he approved some sort of special $50 million appropriation for IDOT so they could buy gas in order to cut grass and pick up road kill (this I just heard from someone, so it could be wrong BUT i wouldn't doubt it one bit).

If he actually would sit in on a CTA board meeting instead of apparently feeding into the bull the Chicago media puts out (an aside, I really, REALLY have a problem with the way the media says one sensational thing but leaves 5 other things out, this is why I am getting out of journalism), he would know that yes, the free ride thing is a problem because they had counted that as revenue that was never received, not because old people are bad. BUT they also said that things like energy, labor and the fact that both the real estate transfer tax and sales tax revenues are less than expected have something to do with it as well. I'm pretty sure that the CTA board doesn't hate old people.

I don't want to get into a CTA discussion, I just thought I would point out that in essence Blago says he is blaming the CTA who, in his little pea brain, is blaming senior citizens. The end.