Investigating Crooked Politicians

I just read this article and it got me thinking. Since we know our politicians are corrupt, both morally and legally, then shouldn't we have professional investigators working around the clock trying to find out exactly who is corrupt and exactly what they are doing? These politicians control our lives and have access to trillions of our dollars. Is it not reasonable, nay, logical to have these guys under constant surveillance to ensure they are working for our benefit and not their own?

Since our FBI has apparently decided that these investigations are unimportant, perhaps we should start a charity in which all the proceeds go to private investigators, who are hired to find out as much as they can about our people in power. We could capitalize on the anti-establishment fervor that is coursing through our nation, and turn that anger into something tangible without resorting to violence.

I think the benefits would be two-fold. First, we would root out the existing dirty politicians, which would be great, and second, if political candidates knew we were always watching them, then maybe they would try a little harder to walk the straight and narrow, and some of the dirtier politicians might stay out altogether.

What do you think?

American Idol: Political Edition

I have an idea for a new TV show that could change the world.

What if we created a television show, for the presidency of the United States, in the style of American Idol? We Americans love that show apparently, so why not deliver politicians to us in a style that we are accustomed? We could text in our votes each week, and we could slowly whittle down the candidates until there were only 2 or 3 left, and then do the actual vote.

We could even mix in a little Real World, and have the candidates all live in a house together. Tell me that wouldn't be entertaining as hell, getting to see the politicians in their natural setting. We might actually get a sense of their character after a few months of close observation.

Is this asking too much of the candidates for most powerful man in the world? With the number of incompetent/morally wavering buffoons we have had in office, I think this invasion of privacy is more than justified. And honestly, would these attention whores really pass up a chance of hours of free primetime air-time every week? It's win-win.

An additional side benefit would be that candidates would spend less time and energy raising money, since they would be featured on live television every week. This has the potential to reduce the influence of money on the most important government position we have. And if we are really serious, we could require that the candidates take NO money in exchange for a spot on the show.

In keeping with tradition we could pick the group of candidates based on the existing primary system. Let them garner national interest, then pick the top 10 to face off in a series of challenges designed to test their wit, knowledge, leadership skills, and singing ability.

Tell me you wouldn't watch that show.

How to Fix America: Elect a 3rd Party President

It's really quite simple, I'm surprised I never thought it before. In order to fix the American political system, that is, in order to save America, we can do one thing, one singular action, and do more to right the ship than we have done in decades. All we have to do is elect a third party president.

It hardly matters who it is. Ralph Nader. Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich running as an independent. As long as there's neither an R nor a D by their name, they will suffice. Because until a third party can make it into the presidency, this country will bend to the wills of the Democratic and Republican parties. One of them is bad enough, but we suffer from both, and we will never force real reform of the political theater until we admit that it is broken, that the parties no longer represent America, as they are now but hyper-polarized caricatures of American political thought.

They and the mainstream, old media are to blame for controlling political thought for many years. By cleverly stoking and channeling political energy, they have taken power and torn a nation apart.

Extreme views and hard positions must relax if we hope to reconcile our differences and make the government work for us. We must set aside old grudges and not just reach across the aisle, but forget the aisle completely. We must let go of the hard ideologies that have pitted Americans against each other, because the more we fight each other, the less we run the country.

So think about it. You still have two years to decide. Obama claimed he would bring change, but he's really just more of the same.

It's time to send a message to the parties, to BOTH parties: We won't stand for it anymore.

Write-ins Only, Please

What do you guys think about a write-in only ballot?

In the past, poll taxes and tests have been used to weed out the more ignorant/ethnic citizens from voting. We obviously don't want to do that, but it would be nice if voters were more informed, and people who were totally ignorant of the candidates and issues just stayed home.

Say candidates must register with the election board for consideration, but once registered that is all they have to do to qualify. After that, they just have to get their name out to as many people as possible.

This would eliminate the wholly ignorant voters without stopping people from voting. Only votes from people who actually know candidate names would count, without confronting the problem of denying suffrage to some people.

It might also elminate the endless R-D duopoly by allowing anyone and everyone an equal footing on the ballot, instead of just having the top 2 candidates listed.

This way, a candidate who might be hated by R's and D's would have a better chance.

Also, it would reduce the negative influence of primaries, wherein strongly partisan candidates are able to play to their base to get their party's nomination. If party 'nomination' became nothing more than an endorsement, perhaps we might see a different class of candidates (or, if we're lucky, a different class of parties).


I'm just thinking out loud hear. Does anyone see any serious potential drawbacks to this plan?