Draw your own conclution

Lying scum may take offense at being compared to politicians

There is lying scum and then there is Charlie Crist

have taken a vow of silence?

Double Tap's numbers are way off. Only about 1% are actually lying scum. The rest have sunk much further than that.

We all know the politicians are notorious for being two-faced; (especially for a means to win your vote or generate revenue) however, my question is why do we keep voting them back into office.

Isn't it fascinating that - apparently - so many voters are such bad judges of characted that 95 to 99% of the politicians that they vote for (and I am that the posters above actually vote) turn out to be the kind that generate such animosity?

You should see the number of them in Virginia Beach...ya think there is an ego thing...

Which category would you put him in,he lied about lowering insurance cost plus many others.

Lets see, first he lied about being a Republican, then about his sexual orientation, when he saw he had no chance as a RINO then became independent with the hopes of getting the Democrats to get him elected, when the numbers didn't jibe, pulled some strings at the DNC to get Meek to drop out by promising to caucus with democrats in the senate if he got elected.

When you look up crooked politician in Wikipedia it has a picture of the lying weasel.

I almost always try to reference whatever a poster cites. Could not find this.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/the%20picture%20of%20croo...

Did not think it could be Wikipedia 9at least for very long)

that is true

Makes a lot more sense if you apply probability distribution and know the actual voter turnout numbers vs eligible voting population.

We can't quantify an 'educated' or even 'informed' voting population, so I apply a generous 80% as actually having relied on themselves to make an effort to cast an informed vote rather than using external influences.

Then, consider the last Presidential contest numbers**:
Voting age population Nov 2008 - 225,499,000
Voting age Presidential voters - 131,313,820
Voters choosing the current President - 69,498,516
Entire voting age population not choosing the current President - 156,000,484 or 69.18%

Finally, we need to know that statistically General election participation exceeds Primary participation, Presidential contests more than Mid-Term contests, and finally that State & Local election voting participation drops off radically from the Federal numbers.

Say what you may about those that don't even participate (41.77%, or greater locally) but they are still entitled to voice their opinion on those that rule their daily lives. I personally suspect that they are the ones that have already determined that all of them are liars, and not worth their effort. Eventually when it goes past their tolerance level, they will start playing the game and enter a voting booth so we'll all finally consider them too.

I didn't even get around to the 20% who did vote, but really didn't give it much original thought. A bit like throwing darts. All of it is hardly an example of "the people have spoken", imo.

** http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/electionresults.shtml
and http://elections.gmu.edu/index.html

Reasonable anaylsis.

Interestingly, I heard David Brooks, the conservative voice in the Shields and Brooks segment on The Newshour, say that most research suggests that - even though roughly 40% of the electorate votes - the choices of those who did not vote would closely mirror that of those who did.

Sorry I do not have a study to cite but David Brooks did not cite one. I have found over the years that both Shoelds and Brooks are on the mark with what they say - even though they will "spin" something differently sometimes.

I apologize to all to all the lying scum out there. Upon further contemplation I have concluded that the lowest form of life in existence is a politician, therefore lying scum is higher on the chain of life.

I'll be blunt. The only good politician, is a dead one.

I would only say that about a Communist, Nazi or other totalitarian that wants to enslave people.

What makes you think we aren't already in a totalitarian regime? Because the government says so? The government and its politicians don't give a damn about you or me.

People are lazy and expect the government to make change happen. Government is uninterested in making change happen, because making change happen would deprive the politicians of wealth and power. Wealth and power are the two things politicians covet above all else. This is "politics as usual".

I don't know about you but I'm tired of "politics as usual". The only real change is going to occur at the business end of a sawed-off. The problem being few if any citizens want to get up off their asses and force change.

All they want is money..

Who would you have in charge of establishing Justice, insuring domestic Tranquility, providing for the common defence, promoting the general Welfare, and securing the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity?

Would you name a few people, please?

Doesn't shock me a bit. To the left of the state is where the stimulus money has been printed. What a way to show an appreciation by the states then start fining individuals. Gotta keep law enforcement in business...etc.

Man, the hate, yes, I know, politican's on the most part are for the birds, but try living with a guy like they have in North Koran or other counties where one guy has run his country for 20 or more years. Tell me where you would live, here in the USA or some other third world country.

Yes, the State is the new Idol.

Where did Nietzsche say this?

If he did say it, what was the context and your interpretation of what was meant?

Non-career politicians. In fact, career politicians would be outlawed, because they have proven themselves to be too detached from the people they supposedly serve. It worked well in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, and can work again.

If you ask me to name specific people, I can't. Though I honestly think any of us here are far more qualified to run a government than the politicians.

Canada. Their government, despite its own shortcomings, has the common sense to keep its nose out of the business of other countries. They don't generally spend their money in a frivolous manner, and they don't waste it on wars that cannot be won.

Sorry, but I like their politics far better than I do the US. Their people are far more friendly, and from spending time amongst them, I find them to be far more free than we are.

Feel free to disagree with me if you wish.

P.S. I have tried to move up there. It's not easy.

Try is not good enough, just don't let people south of the border find out how you feel, we still need cheap labor to continue coming here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4uIS3cs4dM

Yea, politicians are scum, mainly because so many of the votes are cast by people oblivious to reality or even the views of politicians. At least the current concepts of government are only temporal due to financial limitations - we simply don't have the money to keep up doing what we have been doing. It's only a matter of time on the current path until the government will have no way forward other than government default or hyperinflation.

The government of Canada, while far from perfect, has good common sense. During the global financial meltdown, the record shows that they were impacted far less than other countries because they had the good sense to appropriately regulate the financial industry throught the requirements that a certain percentage of capital be held to back loans being made. Their health care results in universal coverage for all with the outcome being that their population is healthier than ours (and yes, they have to wait for elective surgeries many times where someone in the US with insurance can get it scheduled right away). Canadians are friendlier and I would agree that they feel "free".

I have often wondered if Canada is like the Avis Car Rental ads of old. they aren't the number one country like their arrogant neighbor, but they do try harder. Here in the US, I can not ever remenber someone in authority ever saying "you know, that country has a good idea, we ought to do that too". As the US holds on to the feeling that we re the "best" in the world, we continue down that path on which the "Ma Bell" of old slid. "We don't have to worry;, we're the phone company". We are being outpaced in education by dozens of countries and are ceding our future to those countries that believe that education leads to innovation leads to dominance.

I think USA is better than Canada or any other nation.

Wouldn't a best country include the positive aspects of several existing countries. Just a few examples, but please give your input on these and other aspects:

- USA: a long list of good things (go ahead, start listing)
- Canada: just mentioned (modest but efficient banking regulations, health care)
- Mexico: Food, happiness
- Costa Rica: Personal freedoms
- Switzerland: Direct democracy
etc.
Why is it that in the USA we always think we're the absolute best. Let's listen to other ideas.

...But maybe that should be another thread.

I certainly do too but, as my post above indicated, the USA is slowly, but surely losing its edge. It is a mistake not to recognize that and work to change direction

What areas would you point to in which the USA is the "leader" in a positive sense. It is certainly not education (U.S. fourth-graders ranking, on average, higher than their peers in 23 of 35 other nations. Eighth-graders scored higher than other eighth-graders in 37 of 47 other countries. U.S. fourth-graders scored higher than those in 25 of 35 other countries on science that same year, and ninth-graders scored higher than students at the same level in 35 of 47 other countries.),

overall health (The U.S. scores poorly on a number of crucial indicators. The World Health Organization ranked it 37th in health care performance in its 2000 World Health Report, just below Costa Rica. The CIA World Factbook rates the U.S. lower than France, Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union average, among others, for both life expectancy and infant mortality),

financial stability, nnovation, to name a few.

What we "lead" in are some very negative things. For example, we have 5% of the world's population and produce over 25% of the world's polution.

"We" seem to think only of "me" and "now". This leads us to work only for the short term. Were it not for the financial crisis, we probably would have only Ford as a US car manufacturer. Why do you think we have been unable to match the foreign manufacturers in quality?

I love my country but I think that we need to be aware that our world leadership is in a state of decline.

They are all scums....

I do not care about the polls that say this or that, or the world health organization. They have their own agenda. When I look at the students at the college football games, I see people from all nationalities. That is because we have the best universities of learning. .. At the supermarket I can buy any kind of food that I like, whether it is healthy or not. If my kids are hungry, the state and private organizations help provide food for them. Katrina & Haiti show that my country has more compassion for the unfortunate than any other….Our nation has excellent roads and highways that enable us to visit the great national parks and cities. And I see many foreign visitors there. . We settle our political disputes with words, not violence. These are the things make the USA the #1 country.
I complain about many things, just like most of my fellow Americans. I complain about my children too, but I love them very much. They are #1.

I am shutting this thread down, it started with a topic and degraded into a political debate.

Miss POI