You know what would really help is if people would search and look at candidates before elections , instead of after some event such as this .
Maybe we wouldn't have such things to worry over .
OR just MAYBE , we are looking at an electorate that is representative of our population . I hope not .
WE have the power to change the speak , or anything that needs to be changed by voting for someone that represents us . It doesn't need to be regulated by laws , it can be controlled by us , by paying attention and voting .
This is exactly the issue I have been "preaching"....our representatives need to represent US, whether they personally agree with the public's majority opinion or not. Case in point....Roe V. Wade. The ultraconservatives want to reverse the decision, yet it is blatantly clear that the vast majority of the American public is in agreement with the case's resolution. As such, the representatives in Congress ought to represent the view of the majority of their constituents, regardless of whether it agrees with their personal/political/party view. Yet, we seem to be stuck in a system that leaves us hoping we can elect a representative whose personal views most closely match ours. The politicians have forgotten that they represent their constituents, not themselves.
I believe strongly in the power of the ballot box. In fact, that ex-friend I mentioned and I had that discussion many times, with me stressing over and over again that the answer is to vote the "bums" out in the next election. I'm certain he's glad that the conservative agenda has enjoyed a resurection in the House, if not yet in the Senate. Yet, I'm also certain he is still all tied up in angry knots that HIS country had to endure two years without the conservative agenda being in a power position. He doesn't get it, either.
Once we start electing people who understand who is boss (and it ISN'T THEM, we merely "hire" them to represent us through the elections), whose viewpoint they should support in their respective legislative bodies, rather than believing that we have elected them because we like ALL of their personal views, we'll be on the road to ending this political brouhaha.
Sadly, I'm not holding my breath.
I think we ought to require members from opposing "parties" on each ticket.....or, better yet, form new parties, the Demopublicans and the Republicrats.
Or, better yet, just do without parties at all....we don't really need them anymore, we have the technology to have the idealogical discourse and the "elections" without even involving the parties. It should be majority public vote, pure and simple. If that could happen, then the "representatives" we put into the legislative branch of our government might realize that the power lies with the people, not within the parties, themselves.
Cheers from Doug!!