dagblog - Comments for "Congress Shows Backbone on AIG Bonuses"

We definitely see eye to eye

havethoughtwilltravel — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:21:17 +0000

We definitely see eye to eye on that score. I'm saving up for my Mac Pro as we speak.

Of course you know the problem. I want all the bells and whistles and the flat screen TV that comes with it.

Democracy isn't fast enough

jock maccrea — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 19:10:11 +0000

In reply to I agree, who could have seen

Democracy isn't fast enough or nimble enough to control technology, especially the technology that controls money. Ask any older farmer or rancher about the changes they've seen in the last 40 years as the agrarian culture that fed this nation and then other nations was destroyed by giant agribusiness corporations and their cohorts. These kinds of alliances are made possible by the way technologies favor instant profits over long-term capital preservation of land and resources. The average person has no idea about the power of international chemical companies to change and damage agriculture and by extension the very health of the citizenry. A stupefied populace that prefers television to books and newspapers remains inactive and immobile. I'm sorry to have lived to see it, and worry how my children and grandchildren will survive this damaged society, but I'm relieved also to just sit back and let the river roll. Not much to be done now but look back on it as a grand wake.

No worries. I blame

Michael Wolraich — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:40:27 +0000

In reply to Sorry, I'll switch to

No worries. I blame Microsoft.

Sorry, I'll switch to

havethoughtwilltravel — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:58:32 +0000

In reply to I don't agree that the

Sorry, I'll switch to notepad.

I understand what you're saying but do we really need government to protect our interest?

As individuals, what's important to us varies from person to person. We should be free to pursue our interest in accordance to what we feel is best for us. Laws are necessary so I'm not saying we don't need laws, we do!!!! But I'm adult and the government should not have to be placed in the position of being my parent.

They have their job and I have mind. If we take care of what's in our best interests without stepping on the freedoms of others, all of society benefits. The government should provide the tools in which to do this but they don't need to do it for us.

An idealistic dream on my part, but a dream I believe in.

I'm Computer challenged at times. Can I continue to edit in word and then copy and paste to note pad, and from there copy and paste to here? How would that work? DUH, neva mind, I should read more carefully.

I agree, who could have seen

havethoughtwilltravel — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:36:56 +0000

In reply to The Founding Fathers created

I agree, who could have seen this coming. But when reading the Federalist papers and other documentation and letters from these old dudes, you get a better understanding of the intent. I see the Constitution as a living document and as such, it has the capacity to adapt to this new world.

The problem is electing the officials who "get it." The ones that see the basic intent of the document and who know how to expand on those ideas and principles without destroying the intent.

If the American people don't understand it, how can they elect officials who do?

I don't know, for me, it's not an exercise in nobility but simple common sense, reasoning and logic.

I don't agree with technology killing democracy. It is what it is. How technology is used, is what could cause the destruction.

I don't agree that the

Michael Wolraich — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:25:51 +0000

In reply to Now that's a pretty sobering

I don't agree that the government's only job is to protect the Constitution. The Constitution doesn't need to be protected. It simply needs to be obeyed and enforced. Obeying and enforcing the Constitution is a prerequisite but does not guarantee good government. An administration could remain entiredly within the bounds of the Constitution while systematically destroying the economy and infrastructure of the nation.

We elect the government to represent our interests. But sometimes, particularly at moments of mass hysteria--and I do believe that there is some hysteria running around lately--our interests don't coincide with what we believe them to be.

So we can have a government that indulges in our hysterical demands for vengeance or one that keeps its head and looks out for our long term interests. G.W. and Congress gave us a shining example of the former after 9/11. Let's hope that this government shows better judgment.

PS A request: please don't paste from MS Word. Word is evil, and it messes up the formatting for the whole page. When I have time, I'll try to do something fix the problem automatically. But in the meantime, if you write in Notepad or some innocuous text editor, it will be easier on the formatting. You can even write in Word, then paste into Notepad which will purge the formatting, then copy from Notepad into dagblog. Thanks and glad to you have writing in.

The Founding Fathers created

jock maccrea — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:14:02 +0000

In reply to Now that's a pretty sobering

The Founding Fathers created a society within a mostly agrarian economic mindset. No thinkers in the centuries beyond the Age of Reason could possibly foresee the political and social complexities that technology would wrought. To ponder the founding of the great American Democracy is noble. But you have hit upon the nightmare with your comment on the flat screen.

Technology will kill democracy, not make it better.

Now that's a pretty sobering

havethoughtwilltravel — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 15:53:00 +0000

In reply to If they get voted out, guess

Now that's a pretty sobering thought.

The thing is, it's not Congress or the President that concerns me the most. It's the American people. Let me try to explain.

I consider myself a rather passionate person but there is a difference in my minds eye between passion and emotion. The public seems to take every decision and every slight personally, in doing so they loose all objectivity.

There isn't any such thing as a perfect, idealistic Norman Rockwell life. Not in the broad sense. The public keeps fighting and screaming for something that doesn't truly exist.

The government's job isn't to protect us but to protect the Constitution. If they do that, we're covered, case close.

Now I'm not a strict Constitutionalist, it would be self defeating if I were. However I've always been fascinated with the idea that the Founding Fathers lived in an imperfect society and designed an imperfect document that in theory, could correct, imperfections.

My head is all over the place on this so I'm not even sure where I want to go with it. I guess what I'm saying, the only thing Americans want, is to get their flat screen TV's back. Feeling this way, it's a little difficult for me to get too upset with our government. They are, what we created. Until we truly recognize this, they always will be.

If they get voted out, guess

Michael Wolraich — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 15:05:45 +0000

In reply to I see your point. Someone has

If they get voted out, guess who's going to get voted in?

The Dems have from 2 to 4 years to get it right.

I see your point. Someone has

havethoughtwilltravel — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 07:23:12 +0000

In reply to Your thoughts are well worth

I see your point. Someone has to make the tough decisions. It seems to me the reforms will come though, at least that's what our President tells us. Maybe this wasn't the time. This "change" thing is still new with Congress, just as it is with the country.

Going from reactionary to visionary will not happen to these old dogs overnight. If we can't teach them new tricks, we'll just have to vote them out.