Democracy Run Amok

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If you are paying attention at all you will know that in Delaware the Republican candidate for the Senate is a person who says masturbation is adultery, evolution is a myth, scientists are producing mice with fully functioning human brains, she once dabbled in witchcraft, and God created the universe and everything in it in six days. This is a woman who has apparently never held a permanent job, has never been elected to any significant office, has apparently spent most of her life trying to get on camera, and has no qualifications whatsoever to become a United States Senator. She is, in fact, little more than a bad joke, even less qualified for any office than Palin is qualified for the Presidency. It would, I believe, be an incredible waste of time to even bothering questioning her about her beliefs although it might be fun. For example, one might ask her if unmarried individuals masturbate are they committing adultery or only married people? Similarly, she claimed at age 31 she was still chaste. Is she still chaste at 41? Or you might ask her to produce some evidence that evolution is a myth, or that mice have human brains, and so on. But I digress.

Consider there is a similarly ignorant candidate for the Senate in Nevada, another one in Alaska, still another in Colorado, and still others. Granted that Congressional positions are probably the only jobs for which no qualifications are required, this does seem to me irresponsible. I like to think that Congressional offices should be held by qualified individuals who have at least some history of accomplishment, some relevant experience, at least some appreciation of the importance of the offices they are seeking. Apparently nowadays this is not necessary, anyone, no matter how bizarre their beliefs, how limited their experience, how ignorant they may be, can manage to become candidates for important public offices. This is bad enough to begin with, but consider that most of these so-called “Tea party” candidates are now officially accepted and supported by the Republican Party. As these strange Tea Party people seem to be taking over the Republican Party I guess they have little choice but to endorse them (any old port in a storm) but I believe to put forward and support such candidates is absolutely unconscionable and even subversive. The position of Senator would seem to be one of the single most important positions in government, indeed, in the entire world. Senators have enormous power to influence not only U.S. policy but also International affairs. To fill such positions of power and influence with a number of know-nothing nobodies seems to me to be completely irresponsible, in fact, foolish beyond belief.

Of course we know by now that there has become a complete separation of office holders in the U.S. from the people they are supposed to represent. One might conclude that as this is true it probably doesn’t matter much who holds office as they will merely do the bidding of the corporate masters that actually control things (including our so-called and pretend democracy). But this is not supposed to be the way democracy works. This indicates to me an abdication of responsibility on the part of government. Elected officials should be responsible to the voters (citizens) who elect them, but they no longer are. I suggest what makes this far worse than it might otherwise be is the fact that we pretend to be “the leader of the free world,” the world’s policemen, the beacon on the hill, the greatest country on earth, and so on. If this is what we profess to believe does that not indicate a sense of responsibility for the rest of the world? Does power now come with no responsibility? What do you think other nations must think when we elect our most powerful officials from the ranks of ignorant know-nothings. Does anyone seriously believe that Sarah Palin, Christine O’Donnell, Sharon Angle, and others of that ilk should be in charge of the domestic and international affairs of the U.S.? If so I fear they are as demented as the candidates themselves. These particular candidates are apparently too ignorant to even understand they are too ignorant to even presume to seek high office. Most of the world found it impossible to believe we were stupid enough to elect George W. Bush, what must they be thinking now? We are acting like a bunch of adolescents, which we are when compared with other nations, and our irresponsibility when it comes to our supposed position in the world seems remarkably like the ordinary adolescent irresponsibility of childhood. Is it any wonder we are falling behind so rapidly, becoming a third world nation? I guess you could argue that it is not democracy that has run amok, but the corporations and the wealthy that have subverted it, but that would not have happened had our democracy not allowed this to happen in the first place.

LKBIQ:
We've gotten to the point where everybody's got a right and nobody's got a responsibility.
Newton Minow

TILT:
Bedbugs are capable of feeding unnoticed by their hosts.