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Do Americans truly feel we are properly and honestly represented by our congressmen and political parties? Numerous polls report the president’s poor ratings and presidential candidate preferences, but opinions regarding our legislators are covered largely in syndicated news and editorial pages — not polls!
I feel strongly that there is tremendous indifference on the part of many representatives and the political parties as well. Let me explain.
Back on May 12, 2005, I responded to a solicitation from my political party’s national committee with a letter denouncing the party and requesting removal from its mailing list. After two years of “relentless bombardment” I continue to respond — recently, for the 33rd time — enclosing a copy of my original letter along with a reference note, return mailing it in their “postage paid” envelope.
Here’s a “different” example, still about “indifference.” In March of this year I sent a questioning letter of disagreement to 14 congressional members who are sponsoring a bill, not yet out of committee. I received replies from two. Each was, as expected, an ambiguous, doublespeak, verbose, meaningless “form letter” response.
Were he alive today, Abe Lincoln might have to rephrase his famous formulation: A government of our congressmen, by our congressmen and for our congressmen.

Richard Doran, Parachute

READER COMMENTS

why didnt you list the party?

"why didnt you list the party?
Posted by on July 3, 2007 05:49 AM"

You missed the point of his letter. It wasn't about a party but rather about a political system. Both parties, all parties, are complicit. It is one of those unusual letters to the forum that isn't trying to stir up a partisan fight.

Richard, there is one way to get them to listen -- try not paying your taxes! That will get their attention!

I don't recommend trying that. But wouldn't it be great if the service of government was voluntary, and if you were being ignored you could opt out or switch to another government provider? You might say we can already do this, by moving. But I mean without moving. It should be like cell phone service, or deciding where to shop. There is no reason that the service of government has to be a monopoly.

As things are today, why should they care what you think? Unless a revolution is imminent, hey are completely free to ignore you while forcing you to pay and pay. So you really can't expect any other result.

If Richard is so disgusted with his party then why doesn't he leave it?

One thing I would like to see is for unaffiliated voters to be able to vote in the primaries/caucuses. In Colorado, the only way to do that and stay unaffiliated is to join the party, vote and then leave it (and then you can't vote in the other party's primary/caucuse). If unaffiliated voters were allowed to participate, then I think we would get fewer candidates who just kiss their party's butt and more with the nation's best interest in mind.

Sure there would be some shenanigans where supporters of one party would vote for the other's weakest candidate, but there could be a rule that you had to be unaffiliated for say 2 years. Also, what few ringers that still would manage to get through would be offset by the influx of voters with good motivations.

I know it's unrealistic to hope for something like this. I wish people would wake up and realize that each party's primary interest is in the party and not the well being of the nation. One message people can send to the parties is to leave them and stop supporting them. If you are a conservative, you can still vote for the candidate that best embraces your conservative ideals be they a Republican or even a Libertarian. Likewise if you are liberal you can still vote for the liberal candidate, be they a Democrate or a member of the Green Party.

Sorry for the rant, but few things disgust me as much as the Democratic and Republican parties.

I wrote an e-mail to a group called Progress Now denouncing the way they protected illegal aliens rights.
They sent me back an e-mail saying illegals are not illegals,blah,blah,blah..

Soon I was their best friend ,because I kept getting friendly illegal alien e-mails from them.I kept asking them to stop e-mailing me, because I disagree with everything about their organization.They kept e-mailing me.

The last e-mail I recieved from them was about The Democratic Convention ,it went like this.

They were excited blah,blah,blah about the DNC coming to Denver.Then a questionaire.

1. Can you volunteer at the DNC and if you can what and when can you volunteer?

I can volunteer to spit spitballs at the candidates and their supporters.

2. Do you plan on attending the DNC?

NO, I'd rather watch my dog puke.

3. Do you plan on watching it on TV?

I don't have a TV,an illegal alien stole it so he could watch the DNC on TV. My TV came with a Spanish language button.

Other comments: Please for the 10th time, I hate your organization and take me off your e-mail list.

All quiet now.

CL - excellent points. We have a corrupt and failed party system in this country. What began as shifting balance between leadership philosophies has succumbed to a big game of gotcha where party success, not the nation's success or well being is paramount.

Our only defense to this is to split the majorities in power. Vote for the individuals who are most likely to put the citizenry ahead of blind party allegiance. Hard to find, but they are out there on both sides of the middle.

Truth: "It wasn't about a party but rather about a political system. Both parties, all parties, are complicit."

Damn it Truth. How can I argue with you if you insist on using logic that I agree with? (/sarcasm)

Yeah, truth, what KW said!!!!!!

Ditto to what Truth said.

It's a shame that in our system a third party has little chance of winning an election. Usually their impact is to give the election to one party or the other by siphoning off votes.

Perhaps a revolt is brewing among us serfs. If this disgust with our elected members of Congress continues to grow, maybe within the next decade we will see the growth of an actual viable alternative. I wouldn't count on it, but - it could happen.

Disgust can grow to infinity and won’t make a whit of difference as long as you can be reliably motivated by “wedge issues”.
They have you in a bag as long as they can get people to vote for them because of “the other guy’s position” on stem cells, abortion, gay marriage, flag burning, “the war”, gun ownership, climate change, healthcare, etc.

These are all finely honed talking points to get the electorate in a fizz and a froth.
Look at these blogs - people yell opposing “talking points” at each other and shout insults and slogans thought up by the marketing firms that put the talking points together.
The marketers watch the reaction, tune the message, and feed it back via talking-heads, talk-radio, and electronic push.
Like rats in a behavioural experiment.

Changing it is easy.
You get up a petition that tells Senator/Congressman/Mayor/Governor X that if they don’t darn well take the position you are demanding, you are all going to vote for their opposition regardless of what their opposition stands for or believes. Explain that it is punishment so you don’t mind if it hurts you too.
Just pick them off one by one, they will soon get the message.
Two election cycles and they will be nice and obedient.

Here’s why it will work:
The American public is actually far closer on issues than their representatives, and in many cases their representatives are on exactly the opposite sheet to what the electorate is, but they stay that way because of divisive “talking points”.
Punishing them and letting them know that they are and will be punished tells both the person who got punished and the person who benefited from it that if they don’t comply, the same will happen again.

Btw, this works on corporations too.
If you want them to lower the gas price you don’t have a “don’t buy any gas on Wednesday” petition, you target a specific brand until they drop their price.
Then reward them when they do, and pick the next brand for punishment.
Warn the first guy that you will double the punishment period if they backslide.

Amazing stuff this democracy!

The essence of this can be read in a paper titled “Costly Punishment Across
Human Societies” by Joseph Henrich et al in Science Vol 312 23 June 2006 pp.1767

Bipartisan points Bango?

On this issue is there room for agreement between us? Sure would be a first.

Maybe hell can freeze over.

But I'm still not joining the church. (/sarcasm)

It has been postulated by several studies that people most reliably vote not FOR the candidate they like but more often AGAINST the candidate they don't care for.

I certainly made it clear in my emails to Senators on the immigration issue that I would never again vote for anybody who voted for that bill. Some got the message, some are too stubborn to listen.

Sen. Saladbar will learn when he is next up for re-election who butters his bread. We will not forget.

I think all voters need to quit blaming each other. It is only then that the truth can be exposed and, it will jolt all out of their selfsevering diatribes. Regardless of political party affiliation, people don't generally vote for the most knowlegable, honest and able candidate. Star quality and inane sound bites seem to move voters to vote more.

While the canditates who can tell the most believable lies and make the most empty promises while taking part in trite and embarrassing public appearances in which they preform expedient postion gyrations ad nauseam, hold the high ground. Those who exhibit virtue, integrity and common sense, because they investigate the issues before determining the proper position to take rather than jumping on the popular bandwagon of the moment, are largely ignore because they don't exhibit the highly overrated and questionable quality of charisma.

It would seem then, that voters favor the qualities possessed by two bit actors and hold them in higher esteem than the tried and true qualities of virtue, honesty and the integrity of investigation before conclusion.

That's the problem and we are the cause of it. Don't blame the politicians, blame yourself for allowing the sham to continue. It's time we the people jerked the rug out from under their lead feet . Remember they work for us and, they need and deserve several hard slaps across the face to shock them out of their arrogance and ignorance of that fact.

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