When You Elect Stupid Congresspeople This is What You Get

[redstatebluegirl]

I've watched in horror as some of the country, you know who you are, have started to elect ignorant, ill informed Congressmen and women. Here in Oklahoma it is a given, look at James Langford, what an idiot. With gerrymandering he will be in that seat until he dies or gets indicted for something, that might ,not even do it.

Michele Bauchman had a serious challenge but survived with the help of club for growth and others. The power people need to have these types in office, they are easily manipulated as are the people they represent.

I vote, but I do not know why, no matter who I vote for down here the Republican wins. And before someone asks, yes, I have tried to help my party, calling people, volunteering to stuff envelopes, walk my neighborhood and others, write letters to the editor of our right wing newspaper. It doesn't matter....

Sometimes I believe we are doomed.....

[spedtr90]

1. When you elect people who hate government to run government...

...and want to "drown it in a bathtub", this is what you get. It's like choosing to board your dog with the guy running the puppy mill, or choosing a pyromaniac to manage your apartment building. Stupid.

[enough]

2. I live in a district in suburaban eastern PA (supposedly sane)

that has been represented by Robert Walker and Joe Pitts (and now Jim Gerlach, due to re-districting). Walker was stupid beyond belief, Pitts (still in office but a different district) is worse, and Gerlach is a cypher.

I think stupidity is a serious problem in congress, but of course it's intimately connected with "Christian" fundamentalism and generalized venality.

[freshwest]

3. +1. Although I live in a blue state and district, the darkness is approaching.

The venality of the people elected reflect the voters. Some think there is no payoff to them for this state of affairs. I disagree and Democrats need to learn this hard fact.

[enough]

6. Absolutely, I was involved in local politics for a couple of decades,

but finally left when I realized there was nobody in office or in the electorate who even understood the concept of "conflict of interest." Not that they didn't think it applied to them, it's that they didn't even know what it is. They actually did not understand that there is supposed to be some limit on how officials behave because of some ethics of the general good.

Neither the elected officials nor the electorate understand this. I've seen it with my own eyes.

The payoff is huge for politicians who understand this.

[rhett o rick]

4. The oligarchs are making a big mistake putting their faith in idiots. nm

[freshwest]

5. I know, it's turning oneself inside out trying to get through to them. I respect your work, and you

should know that even if you don't win now, you have still had the chance to network with decent people so your time and effort were well spent:

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something.

If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand Utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

~ Howard Zinn

I was from the south, and despite a long-standing state of despair, there were some victories this year. Take good care of your heart and spirt, redstatebluegirl.