Out of Pod Experience

nahhh ...I think it is at a local level ...probably not so much at a national level as we don't actually vote for the person but more for the party .This was proved when brown took over from blair ...and we both know that nobody wanted him in charge

By your own definition, you speak non-sense.

...

OMG, I've just realised I am UN-American. Hold the bus!

Whilst I agree people should understand the political system they live in, excluding people would probably just play into the hands of the powers that be. So let's educate and encourage participation and then there will be less 'Stupid'. As the shampoo add with Rachel Hunter taught me: 'It won't happen over night but it will happen.'

I don't think the American political system can ever achieve what it was meant to do. Because, the way it is set up, only a person with an extremely competitive and ethically compromising personality can ever become President. In other words, the people who fall outside of the usual standards of the community's norms are the ones who are best-equipped to become President. Basic wisdom says that cannot endure indefinitely.

-Paraphrase of an Emmit Fox one-shot radio sermon around 1920

Touche

I once dated a woman who told me she voted for Clinton because 1. He was better looking than Dole, and 2. She liked his wife.

This is the basic problem with the current system. Where I work there are soooo many tools who just vote however the union tells them to, makes me sad.

Sometimes I think one should have to pass a basic civics test in order to vote. But then, it would just get dumbed down to a level that anyone could pass it. I don't know what the answer is, but I really do wish the clueless would stay home on voting day. Or at least be required to show proper id.....

Where I come from the tools mostly vote the way their Church tell them.

Also, where I come from, we have to show a proper identification to vote. Sounds like your local voting process needs some revamping.

I say "call me un-American..." because my idea goes against the American idea of freedom, that individual freedom is higher than anything else and is of utmost importance. This isn't just rhetoric because entire campaigns are built upon this premise. I, on the other hand (like the rest of the civilized world), believe that individual freedom is of utmost importance to a point. Sometimes individual freedoms need to be infringed upon for the good of the entire society; things like health care and education. However, as many of you already know, Americans are deathly afraid of too much government and are wary of anything run by the government (there is a point there, tbh), however it's most often to their own detriment. The NSA is one thing and universal health care is another.

I will not deny the upsides to a country where individual freedom is held to such a high standard, but tbh most of those benefits are relatively small, insignificant, materialistic and egotistical, and serve only to distract us from the really serious problems we face every day. I left the US because of this mindset, actually.

I don't want to participate in a society where people like Fred Phelps could have had an equal say in politics as, say, Neil Degrasse Tyson. I'm not coming from the standpoint of religion, but of tolerance and intelligence. I understand the significance of taking voting rights away from people; I'm not saying I think it's a good idea, although neither do I like the fact that the ignorant and uneducated have the same voice of those who are tolerant and educated. By educated I don't mean elitist or scholastic, just intelligent. Therefore, I stand by my opinion of an examination to earn the right to vote. We have to take a lengthy exam and course to drive an automobile or motorcycle, why shouldn't we also be evaluated on whether or not we are up to the task of voting for the future of an entire nation?

Oh no, it's the Koch brothers, who are unlike George Soros in everty way, lol.

Take of your two party hat, shesh.