I am not a Democrat or Republican. But whenever a politician comes on TV or make some statement, I never believe a word they say. Really, they are all appear to just want power for themselves and come up with issues they think will help get them elected. I think I was really put off by the whole Clinton mess and his finger pointing and then the other side going after him when they really should have been paying more attention to thing like er, terrorism. I thought Bush was going to do well and seemed to get the country together after 9-11 but has not done enough with the whole terrorism-bin laden mess, the economy and the middle east. What do others think? (PS I do have one positive experience with my local congressman, Chris Shays(R) who helped solve some government red tape for me)
as far as politicians holding higher office, Sen. Wellstone of Minnesota is the only one id trust to any measure. and that being said, i dont think youll find a more stand up guy in government anywhere. he's a quality individual.
I am a very liberal person, but even with the ultra-liberal stance that I have, from what I have seen of Wellstone, I find his super-earnest, super-PC , mega-Liberal posturing to smack of insencerity, or at the very least, naivite. He's a panderer, just the same as most politicians are.
...just because you disagree with his politics doesnt mean he cant be trusted. he's just a super-earnest, super-pc kind of guy. heaven forbid that someone on capital hill should actually care or have feelings.
Actually SOTH Dennis Hastert is one of ,if not the most respected congressman on both sides of the aisle.I live in his district, and I have met him numerous times.He is more like the guy next door who made it to washington then a beltway insider.There are others of course, ones you dont hear about.Its just the crooks swindlers and egomanics that grab headlines .
Senator Wellstone...trustworthy?! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Is that the same Paul Wellstone who BROKE HIS TERM LIMITS PLEDGE to the voters??? Yeah, he's so honorable and a man who can be trusted. <a href="http://www.termlimits.org/Press/Press_Releases/20010117.html">USTL DENOUNCES SEN. WELLSTONE FOR BREAKING TERM LIMITS PLEDGE</a>
Just like you can catch any person in a lie, you can catch any politician in a lie. Because the essence of politics, indeed many endeavors, is trying to negotiate to some middle ground. Whenever you negotiate, the radicals get pissed. Whenever you try to take a hard line, the moderates are pissed. The nature of the beast is that you can't please everyone, and those you don't please call you a liar or unethical, etc. When Bush goes into attack Iraq, he kicks there ass, and then he stops short of going all the way. Nothing unethical about this. He just has to weigh everything and make a decision. When you don't like the current Bush's foreign or domestic policy, you criticise it, and then someone pops up and insituate you are a traitor or are using the criticism for political gain. Because history and experience change every second, the solution can often change -- that's why when a politician changes his mind to me its no big deal. Depending on his constituents, he may have to pay the price (read my lips) but that's just politics. What exactly do you mean by honest? A politician who never changes his mind? (an close-minded idiot, in my book); one who rapidly represents his state whatever the issue? (arguably someone who goes for pork, but isn't that his job?); someone who puts the national interest above his states interest? etc. As they say, power corrupts, but that's the way of business, government, and your church leadership. I think politics has gotten uglier not so much due to the actions of politicians, but due to the celebrity status of vicious, stupid talking heads. We tolerate too much from the critics. We celebrate the loud, obnoxious critics.
where to start... firstly: cowboy needs to settle down and take his medication. secondly: with all the research you obviously did in an attmept to sully wellstone, the best you could come up with was his breaking of a minor pledge to step down after two terms? the type of pledge that the breaking of which can be as easily remedied by the OUTRAGED people of minnesota by just showing up on voting day. and not only that, but you went to the USTL site to back up your anger (deep and personal as it no doubt is...nothing partisan from ian mccracken of course ), as opposed to using a source that might be just a little less biased on the subject. what a sleaze bucket...youre right! i recant my endorsement immediately!
Minor pledge? So he can weasel out of any vote, any pledge by claiming it is "minor"? Geez, what a stand up guy. If he was a true man of honor he would bite the bullet and honor his pledge to run for only two terms. He claimed that Washington corrupted politicians who were power hungry and stay on too long to hold power. He was right. Too bad he couldn't live up to his own ideals.
There may be good politicians in other states, but I assure you that every one in California is terrible.
I'm with Ian, there was nothing minor about Wellstone's pledge. Wellstone used the pledge in order to boost his standing with voters and get elected, and then once he is in power he forgets about it. What's really sad is that two terms in the Senate is still 12 years -- and yet that's apparently still not enough for Mr. Wellstone.
If "breaking his promise" on term limits is all you have on Wellstone, then he ought to run for Pope. I wonder how many people in both parties decided that term limits was a bad idea once elected. Not that term limits are a good idea in any case. Wasn't that one of the big platforms in Newt Gingrich's Contract On America?
If you buy a hot stereo for your car, you and the seller can go to jail, right? So, if you make illegal contributions to a Senatorial election, you go to jail for 18 months. But, if you received those illegal contributions, you get a slap on the wrist. I would guess that those senators were only covering their own rear ends by not allowing the cat out of the bag. Hey buddy. You know what? They all do it. That said, it makes me even more angry to watch this senator "take full responsibility" for his actions when he first denied the facts. He only came sort of "clean" when he was promised by his fellow crooks, I mean, fellow senators that he wouldn't be hurt by them if he took their "punishment" and they could all move on. One question: Can this / will this go through a real legal process?
Ron Paul. Member of the House, and former Libertarian nominee for President. He holds a strict view of the Constitution. If he doesn't believe there is a Constitution mandate for the passage of a bill, he doesn't vote for it, even if it is detrimental to his district.
One of the great virtues of our country is that we have remarkably free elections. We really do get the politicians most people vote for. Not the flawless heroes we say we want, the living, breathing politicians most people vote for. If most people voted for honest politicians, that's who would hold our public offices. If you want to know why politicians behave the way they do, reflect on this.
Good point. P.J. O'Rourke wrote a great book called "A Parliament of Whores" which just ripped politicians across the right/left spectrum (and rightly so), but at the end, he reminds the readers that all of them were ELECTED! The book ends with the line (paraphrasing) "In the Parliament of Whores, we are the whores."