It is a sad and scary thing watching the political turmoil south of the border. The president says nice things only if the person agrees with POTUS 45. Once they lose favour then the language changes and language of a bully is used to put down the person. His supporters will flood the media that they control and social media with half truths and complete lies and repeating it until the people start to think it may be true.
When he tries to pick a person for a high level job he expects them to swear personal loyalty to him and not to the constitution and the law. If there is a person in a position that he can terminate he does so and demeans and puts the person down and then attempts to put a replacement in who will swear personal loyalty to him and put in effect what he wants (whatever that is as it changes).
Now he is trying to regulate social media to remove 'bias'. They seem to think that when those on the right get banned for hatred, bigotry, sexist offensive language. They want to use the power of government to dictate who gets to 'free speech' online, social media and traditional media which is the government interfering with the first amendment. They believe in free speech only when it is their speech and anything else is to be shut down or regulated. This sounds more like Russia, China and North Korea.
It is almost a daily event to see/hear what POTUS 45 or his minions will do. They work for the rich, powerful and politically connected who agree with what he wants and will work to demean and destroy those who question his actions or disagree with him.
It will only get worse as the next election gets closer. I foresee him using language that will incite incidents to intimidate anyone who does not support him or his supporters. He will deny, lie and spin when confronted with that and claim that the ones questioning him are the ones who are spreading 'fake news'. When he loses the election I see that he will dismiss the results claiming fraud, blaming illegal immigrants, 'fake news', and then invoking powers that he does not have to try to stay in office. Those on the right will then start actions claiming to support the true president and a time of civil unrest will distract everyone and those who truly want this discord (Russia, China and North Korea) will take advantage of this to expand their control of those who cannot protect themselves.
Showing posts with label accountability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accountability. Show all posts
Sunday, 11 August 2019
Saturday, 2 March 2019
Rambling thoughts on politicians
It is disappointing that elected governments think they have the right to do anything they want. They vilify the policies and laws of the prior government and then dismantle them without any apparent reason other than the other party put it into place. It does not matter the party (NDP, Liberal or Conservative), it is the policy, the services or the laws that does not fit their ideology and therefore must be chucked out no matter the price the people pay.
When we question it they ignore us, phrase and twist words to make it look and sound better than it really is, or, try to make us think they know better than us and speak down to us in rather condescending words. They forget that we elected them to represent us and that they are responsible and accountable for all their actions and inactions to us. They need to remember that they must consult with us and to inform us of what they are going to do.
All too often large companies, the rich and well-funded special interests seem to be dictating to the politicians what they can and cannot do like the current federal scandal that has the appearance of businesses dictating the actions of politicians. Politicians are more worried about losing votes and power rather than doing what is right and what the law says.
What can be done? For starters we need legislation at the federal, provincial and local government level that allows the people to forward a petition for the recall of the politician. Once a specified threshold has been met there is a special election. There may be limits such as how long after an election before a petition can be issued and how many more months before the next election also. There needs to be a threshold on the number of people required and they must reside where the politician is and must be an eligible voter. It may not be a cure-all, but, if politicians know that if they do not work on our behalf we can turf them from office and replace them with a person who will work on our behalf.
Another thing is for us to stop being hyper-critical of anything they do. That isn't easy, but, if we look rationally at what they are doing and ask why and ask them why, maybe we will be more understanding of what is being done. Also when you are reading those 'articles' ask yourself where the information came from, are they checking their sources and do other news sites are reporting the same thing. I have seen 'articles' and while they seemed reasonable something was off and when I dug a wee bit I found that the 'Canadian' article was actually written outside of Canada.
The next thing is to completely remove their being funded by organizations and the rich. They need to have a hard dollar limit per person and only a real person can contribute. This will minimize the influence the rich and corporations have and force the politicians to solicit funds directly from the voters. It won't be perfect, but, if they can see in their pocket book the effect of not listening to us it may be another way to persuade them. Personally I have stopped taking calls looking for money and turfing their physical mail and emails and let them know why I have stopped and what it will take before I start contributing. Will it stop them? Right now it is 'no', not many are doing it and the hit on their bank accounts is minimal.
When there is an election try to go to the 'meet the candidate' meetings and have a short list of questions prepared for the candidates on the topics that matter to you. Ask the incumbent why did they do what they did, ask the other candidates on what they will do and let them know if they break their campaign promises it will cost them their job. Read up on the platforms and be a knowledgeable voter.
The next big, very big thing is to vote. I have voted in EVERY municipal, provincial and federal election since 1988. If you don't vote then don't complain as you not voting indicated that anyone who gets voted in is fine by you! Not everyone who I voted for got into office. All too many were a disappointment or their party was a disappointment. When that happens I look at the next election as an opportunity to correct that.
Participate in the process. Decades ago I volunteered for a campaign and got an excellent education on what it takes a candidate to run for office.
When we question it they ignore us, phrase and twist words to make it look and sound better than it really is, or, try to make us think they know better than us and speak down to us in rather condescending words. They forget that we elected them to represent us and that they are responsible and accountable for all their actions and inactions to us. They need to remember that they must consult with us and to inform us of what they are going to do.
All too often large companies, the rich and well-funded special interests seem to be dictating to the politicians what they can and cannot do like the current federal scandal that has the appearance of businesses dictating the actions of politicians. Politicians are more worried about losing votes and power rather than doing what is right and what the law says.
What can be done? For starters we need legislation at the federal, provincial and local government level that allows the people to forward a petition for the recall of the politician. Once a specified threshold has been met there is a special election. There may be limits such as how long after an election before a petition can be issued and how many more months before the next election also. There needs to be a threshold on the number of people required and they must reside where the politician is and must be an eligible voter. It may not be a cure-all, but, if politicians know that if they do not work on our behalf we can turf them from office and replace them with a person who will work on our behalf.
Another thing is for us to stop being hyper-critical of anything they do. That isn't easy, but, if we look rationally at what they are doing and ask why and ask them why, maybe we will be more understanding of what is being done. Also when you are reading those 'articles' ask yourself where the information came from, are they checking their sources and do other news sites are reporting the same thing. I have seen 'articles' and while they seemed reasonable something was off and when I dug a wee bit I found that the 'Canadian' article was actually written outside of Canada.
The next thing is to completely remove their being funded by organizations and the rich. They need to have a hard dollar limit per person and only a real person can contribute. This will minimize the influence the rich and corporations have and force the politicians to solicit funds directly from the voters. It won't be perfect, but, if they can see in their pocket book the effect of not listening to us it may be another way to persuade them. Personally I have stopped taking calls looking for money and turfing their physical mail and emails and let them know why I have stopped and what it will take before I start contributing. Will it stop them? Right now it is 'no', not many are doing it and the hit on their bank accounts is minimal.
When there is an election try to go to the 'meet the candidate' meetings and have a short list of questions prepared for the candidates on the topics that matter to you. Ask the incumbent why did they do what they did, ask the other candidates on what they will do and let them know if they break their campaign promises it will cost them their job. Read up on the platforms and be a knowledgeable voter.
The next big, very big thing is to vote. I have voted in EVERY municipal, provincial and federal election since 1988. If you don't vote then don't complain as you not voting indicated that anyone who gets voted in is fine by you! Not everyone who I voted for got into office. All too many were a disappointment or their party was a disappointment. When that happens I look at the next election as an opportunity to correct that.
Participate in the process. Decades ago I volunteered for a campaign and got an excellent education on what it takes a candidate to run for office.
Sunday, 11 September 2016
Why do politicians think we serve them?
From the way politicians act and talk they "know" more than us and they are the only ones who have the only right answer. If we disagree they tend to put us down or insult as we don't know better than them. They listen to 'elite' experts who advise them and then pompously inform us of what is right and what is wrong and things will go to hell if we don't follow them.
A good politician does not and should not use fear, hatred, intolerance to push society in the direction they want. They should be leading by example, inspire us to be better, listen to ideas and opinions that differ and to help improve society as a whole. Sometimes they need to tell us what we need to hear and not what we want to hear and not be afraid to tell us NO.
We need a way to make politicians accountable to the people again and make the people responsible to make informed choices and ensure that those we elect to make policies and laws that will do that and keep electing those who do so and to FIRE those who do not. A start has been made by minimizing the role of money from businesses, the rich and unions. Make the politicians go to the people to fund their campaigns by limiting how much each person can give. Also limit the personal funds a politician can use as the ultra-rich can self fund their campaign and 'buy' their way to office. Those with money, businesses, special interest groups and unions will scream that it is undemocratic and other bullshit reasons. They will be afraid of losing their undue influence and control and let the ordinary citizen regain their rightful control of the process.
I am reading (and re-reading) the federalist papers. Even after centuries the messages in the document is still relevant today. This should be required reading by all politicians, even here in Canada as the ideas then still apply today.
At times I despair when seeing/reading about laws that politicians are wanting to enact. I don't know if they are playing to fear or are ignorant about the constitution of this country, or the constitution of the country where they reside. Too many also display a lack of knowledge about basic economics. Would it improve our politicians if they prove a basic knowledge about the constitution, economics, law, our political processes before running for office? New citizens need to take a citizenship test and that would be a good starting point for politicians to demonstrate their basic knowledge of our country and political processes.
A good politician does not and should not use fear, hatred, intolerance to push society in the direction they want. They should be leading by example, inspire us to be better, listen to ideas and opinions that differ and to help improve society as a whole. Sometimes they need to tell us what we need to hear and not what we want to hear and not be afraid to tell us NO.
We need a way to make politicians accountable to the people again and make the people responsible to make informed choices and ensure that those we elect to make policies and laws that will do that and keep electing those who do so and to FIRE those who do not. A start has been made by minimizing the role of money from businesses, the rich and unions. Make the politicians go to the people to fund their campaigns by limiting how much each person can give. Also limit the personal funds a politician can use as the ultra-rich can self fund their campaign and 'buy' their way to office. Those with money, businesses, special interest groups and unions will scream that it is undemocratic and other bullshit reasons. They will be afraid of losing their undue influence and control and let the ordinary citizen regain their rightful control of the process.
I am reading (and re-reading) the federalist papers. Even after centuries the messages in the document is still relevant today. This should be required reading by all politicians, even here in Canada as the ideas then still apply today.
At times I despair when seeing/reading about laws that politicians are wanting to enact. I don't know if they are playing to fear or are ignorant about the constitution of this country, or the constitution of the country where they reside. Too many also display a lack of knowledge about basic economics. Would it improve our politicians if they prove a basic knowledge about the constitution, economics, law, our political processes before running for office? New citizens need to take a citizenship test and that would be a good starting point for politicians to demonstrate their basic knowledge of our country and political processes.
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