It's pretty simple yet my fellow idiot Americans stay divided!

[alphaluce]

Many claim the problem in America is pervasive ignorance and apathy...


all I can say is

I don't know, and I don't care

[florida.bob]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

"It's pretty simple yet my fellow idiot Americans stay divided!"

You can be an idiot American on your own with your own. I am not part of that group.

Americans will always have divides to deal with. Who we send to DC reflect those divides. A problem presents itself, when those sent to DC will not work thru the differences. Whether we work thru them or not, does not matter nearly as much as our Reps doing that. I don't see much evidence of that happening.

[Pandamonium]

[quote=oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots;16534068]

Originally Posted by Pandamonium

No, I didn't say people were not qualified to read bills.

That is what it sounds like to me.

Not qualified or not capable.

Big difference between trying to get a job when there isn't one and not reading a bill. Big. Not even in the same ball park.

Participation means taking the initiative to read the bills. It doesn't have to be protesting or organizing or any of this. Therefore, the line of questioning is not dictated by the media and it isn't dictated by those in office. Otherwise, how do you know if that person is representing your views or merely telling you what you want to hear either as an elected (or candidate) official or a media corp?

That is it. That is all that I want. And the info is available 24/7, so, whatever your schedule might be it is there. It has nothing to do with freedom of press. It has nothing to do with enough time to "talk" politics. It has nothing to do with working two jobs and raising a family.

From one citizen to another citizen, when you decide to back someone and utilize the "heard it from a friend method" then you wind up making rash decisions with far reaching consequences and have already given me an entire outline of why people do not have to do the least that they can do. This indicates that people want all of the rights of citizenship but NONE of the responsibilities.

[rbohm]

Originally Posted by Neuling

A couple of days ago I read an assessment by a journalist who said that the US is like the old Yugoslavia, lots of people and ethnic groups that can't stand each other or at best don't care about each other, forced to live within the same borders...

that journalist was quite mistaken in his comparison. old yugoslavia was a number of smaller countries forced together to form one country by the soviet union, where as the united states is one country where several nationalities have chosen to live

Originally Posted by Tober138

True enough....although it has been hard for his administration to do much of anything as the "other side" made a lot of noise over healthcare for the express purpose of tying all of his resources up in that battle, leaving very little left over to do anything else.

then perhaps he should have done a clinton, and shelved the bill and the debate until after he and the democrats got the economy going again.

The Republican used the Tea Baggers in this election like a $10 hooker. And now they will dispose of them in much the same fashion.

again, lets see what happens in the next two years.

[Neuling]

Originally Posted by rbohm

that journalist was quite mistaken in his comparison. old yugoslavia was a number of smaller countries forced together to form one country by the soviet union, where as the united states is one country where several nationalities have chosen to live

The way I understood it, he was referring not so much to history, but to the way people deal with each other in some parts of the country. For instance in LA and other cities there are like several parallel cities within the same city, often separated along axes such as avenues or city highways, so that ethnic groups don't mix. Likewise there are political rifts in the US population that often go along with religious rifts, sometimes strong enough to make people avoid each other for that reason alone. There is only a rather superficial cohesion.