Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for January 24, 2017

Express ramp to oblivion. Wiley strikes again.

Steep dip to a dead end for liberty. So many games one must play to make it work. The system has developed into a corruption based one which means that the less you are corruptible, the harder it will be to keep from getting any legislation through corrupted.

Watch out for the “alternative facts”! (They’re the third choice in a true-or-false quiz.)

Everyone has the right to express themselves.

@ uniquename I think we should spread the word

http://www.dhmo.org/truth/Dihydrogen-Monoxide.html

Isn’t this true for only about half of the voters?

Lately, I thought they believed it worked by rioting and looting.

thin out the herd

It wouldn’t be a journey of self-discovery; they’re discovering something outside themselves.

We’re getting the government we made because we believe the lies told by those making of profit off of government not working.

Winston Churchill said “Americans always do the right thing…After they have tried everything else….”

^or, “of course he’s corrupt. He’s a politician”

Maybe its time to stop whining and start doing something about corrupt government. Here are some ideas: term limits for the House and Senate. It is ridiculous that the President is limited to two four year terms but members of the House and Senate can be there as long as they like.

Reverse all gerrymandering. The districts are not drawn by geographic boundaries but by which mapping will give one political party power.

Put an end to ridiculous “Winner-Take-All” electoral college states. It is not in the constitution and has allowed one party to continuously gain power despite being in the minority.

We have the government we elect.

But most people will just get angry with me and keep whining.

The electoral college was included in the constitution because it was written by a group of men who, though they were liberal for their time, were slave holders and had very little faith in anyone who was not college educated and rich. The idea was to enable the educated elite in each state to appoint people who would override the uneducated common people if they didn’t do what the elite considered the right thing. They sincerely were trying to protect the government they were creating, which protected their own positions in society. After all, if some hick farmer had been “feeling the Bern” in 1800, we would have a much different country than we do now

For those of us who were young folks in the ‘60s, we found out the hard way how a representative government works.

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For example, my friends and neighbors decided, on their behalf, that the Army would really appreciate the pleasure of my company, in a little Southeast Asian garden spot, called Vietnam.

For this little exercise in futility, we were widely reviled upon our return by those same friends and neighbors.

We learned,first hand, how a government lies and twists the facts to suit the political moment, and the corporate powers that be.

Those of us veterans, who’d seen first hand the bloody farce, and disapproved of the war, were treated with as much, if not more animosity, than any of our protesting peers , who were lucky enough, not to have served.

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There are damn good reasons that many of us “War Babies” and " Baby Boomers " are cynical.

There are many others of my generation, who are scared, angry, and desirous to return to a fictional time of Ozzie & Harriet, Father Knows Best, and Mayberry !

For the latter group of my peers, I feel especially, sorry.

That time only existed in your imaginations and childhood perceptions. It wasn’t real. You cannot turn back the clock, much as you want to.

Your attempts in the next couple of years will only result in disasters and further disappointments.

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Ironically, your grandchildren already know this, and will neither thank you, nor forgive you, for what you are attempting to do.

“Every nation has the government it deserves.”—Joseph de Maistre

Americans love our myths, but we run into problems when we start taking them seriously. If your grasp on how government is supposed to work is based entirely on Schoolhouse Rock, you really have no one to blame but yourself for your naivete.

Eliminate the ….ahem…….middle man.

Skateboarder can totally Jump/Clear that Gap… Especially the really good ones.

Representative democracy is a horrible form of government, but beats all other forms by a mile.

@Wiley: Breaking my promise to myself to never post to your site. Gerrymandering can be ended by action in a particular state. Voters in Florida voted to amend the state constitution to have to have districts drawn a certain way. The Legislature refused to implement it, so citizen groups took the issue to the State Supreme Court. The Court ruled in favor of the groups, so districts for the US House of Representatives had to be redrawn and were; some of the changes occurred after ballots had already been printed. The impact has already made some changes because a long time Republican legislator, John Mica (who had brought many roadway dollars to his district, winning over certain constituients) was defeated by a young immigrant woman.

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I will now return to complete silence so as not to be attacked by Wiley again.