As if last week’s Trumpster Fire at the RNC weren’t enough political corruption for ya (at one point, the Chair was literally hiding behind armed guards to avoid receiving a petition from delegates for a roll call vote… Fun times), enter the DNC.
Should we thank Russia for hacking their emails? After all, we now know what so many Bernie fans suspected: that the Democratic National Committee had indeed been colluding to ensure Hillary Clinton became their nominee.
In response, former Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schulz has resigned.
Welp.
(And no, we should not thank Russia. They are interfering with an American election only to help elect Donald Trump. The DJT has a big man-crush on Russian “President” Vladmir Putin, alongside other nasty dictators who are “strong.” And though Putin’s a ruthless thug, he’s smart enough to recognize Trump’s threat to withdraw from NATO means some bite-size former USSR countries will be ripe for the eating, should he beat Clinton. If my WWII-era grandparents were alive, they’d be crying).
It’s corruption everywhere, peeps.
And we cannot allow 2020 to look anything like 2016. Some thoughts:
-
Term limits + NO insider trading on non-public information
Hey guys: Most congressional members enter their DC offices as moderately wealthy individuals, and leave “public service” as multi-millionaires.
They get a decent salary, but the mega-bucks are flowing in from somewhere else. Let’s think of where that might be… Hmmm…
SMH.
Fix: Two-term limit for Senators, six-term limit for House members. This makes using your “power” position harder; you’re only good to special interest groups (including those in the market for a convenient spouse) for a decade, at best.
-
Mandatory public tax returns release, during your term, and for ten years afterwards
See Above.
Fix: If politicians had to disclose their sources of income, even for ten years after holding office, that would be a powerful tool of dissuasion when lobbying groups make a play for their “support.”
-
An antagonistic press corps
Guess what other stink droppings were found in the #DNCLeak? Certain media personalities were in direct contact with the DNC about how to cover Clinton, and it looks like the MSM bias right-wingers scream about doesn’t just exist; it’s way worse than most of them probably imagined.
Fix: The role of newspapers and television reporters is to question everyone, and “support” no one. If “your” party is corrupt, “your” job is still to report it. Can we – PLEASE – get back to that? (Particularly yours, Fox News).
-
Calling Party of Three
2016 gives us a “binary” choice: corrupt Clinton or insane Trump.
Send your regards to the DNC and RNC for screwing over everyone.
Fix: Look, I know Gary Johnson has the outside chance of making the Presidential debate stage, and we’ll see then how the Libertarian holds up against the other two. But few Americans agree agree with the whole of the Libertarian policy platform, so we need a serious Third Party, and it wouldn’t even be hard.
You’d start with just two requirements:
a. Honest
b. Sane
See? It’s easy.
-
Making Voters Serious Again
If you’re looking to raise your blood pressure, check out talk radio. Rush Limbaugh, Marc Levin, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham. Listening to any of them guarantees a real hike in your heart attack odds, and they love that, because they live off hyped-up rage.
Over on the left, you’ve got Salon, Slate, and company, who would like you to believe that anyone who does not share their every left-wing view is necessarily a) of insufficient IQ or b) a racist/sexist/islamophobe who dreams of personally beheading all homosexuals and installing material chains on kitchen furniture to ensure women never leave their place at the sink.
Most Americans identify with neither of these extremes, and yet: the loudest voices get the media play, and we feel that we have to “pick a side.”
Our country belongs to us. If you’re like me, you don’t recognize your views showing up in either party (for the most part).
And that’s because our politicians, and our media, are no longer serious. They want attention, they want emotions, they want advertising dollars: they want drama.
Fix: Get involved in your local politics, and express the fact that you’d like serious candidates. Not people who pander, not people who are bought and sold by special interest groups.
- Consider starting your own radio program to combat the right-wing monopoly on that medium.
- Write a letter to the editor when your newspaper flies off the rails in a partisan rage.
Because ultimately, if we want a different outcome in 2020, we’re going to have to be the change we believe in.
We’re going to have to get serious.
