Shadowy U.S. Government

[Michael]

how about someone come up with a pod where the president is a puppet, congress is a farce and "public opinion" is a joke? or does this already exist what i mean is something like in believe nothing with a council of about a dozen people influencing everything mainly through the control of information and manipulating the news or would a more active role be needed?

[Archangel Michael]

Why do you need a POD for this? Are current pres is already a puppet.

[basileus]

I agree. That's altlready the situation, at least since 1963.

[Michael]

really? fine then a pod where america has always been controlled by a shadowy government since the declaration of independence and has grown to manipulate whole countries apart from the US

[David Howery]

michael> no, that is not the situation as it really is... sheesh...

[MerryPrankster]

"I agree. That's altlready the situation, at least since 1963."

Why 1963? Is that the year Kennedy was assassinated?

[Abdul Hadi Pasha]

Originally Posted by David Howery

michael> no, that is not the situation as it really is... sheesh...

How is the President NOT a puppet? What domestic policies has he promoted that are not of direct and great benefit to the industries to which he is beholden?

In what way is Congress NOT a farce? Even the leading Democratic Senators, many of which are currently running for president, are spinless nobodies who have been beaten into believing the pulbic will view them as traitors if they don't rubber-stamp Bush's wars.

And as for public opinion, it is a total joke because the public does not have access to the information it needs to make reasonable judgements.

The Republic is dead.

[David Howery]

my, the ranters are out in full force today...

[Diamond]

Yup.

[DominusNovus]

How far Democracy has fallen that politicians are pandering to their constituents(sic?)! Good lord! Its a good thing the government wasn't like this in the good old days, like the late nineteenth century, or else there might have been some major corruption!

[Valamyr]

Aint it a sad day when you take a second to think about the rants, and realize they are right, David?

And yes. It's been plainly obvious for over fourty years.

[Paul Spring]

I have to agree with David. Politicians supporting the interests of people and groups that helped get them elected? Critics of elected officials being accused of being unpatriotic? Citizens voting based on knee-jerk reactions rather than informed, rational decisions? Politicians trying to give events the best possible spin and keep the "bad news" quiet? There's nothing in the least bit new about any of this - these are issues that every voting-based government has had to face since the time of the ancient Greeks. If these things were enough to condemn elected governments to destruction, then no elected government would ever last more than 2 or 3 years!

[NapoleonXIV]

Originally Posted by Paul Spring

I have to agree with David. Politicians supporting the interests of people and groups that helped get them elected? Critics of elected officials being accused of being unpatriotic? Citizens voting based on knee-jerk reactions rather than informed, rational decisions? Politicians trying to give events the best possible spin and keep the "bad news" quiet? There's nothing in the least bit new about any of this - these are issues that every voting-based government has had to face since the time of the ancient Greeks. If these things were enough to condemn elected governments to destruction, then no elected government would ever last more than 2 or 3 years!

How about politicians supporting the interests of people and groups who paid them off the most, critics of elected officials being accused of terrorism, citizen's votes being ignored or defrauded away, people voting on the basis of propaganda disguised as news and polititicians blatantly censoring even that. Yeh, we've had to face them since the beginnings too, but usually by kicking the perpetrators out, not giving them more money and a higher approval rating.

I disagree that we are ruled by shadowy groups that make a mockery of most of our institutions of government. There's nothing shadowy about them.

[DominusNovus]

Originally Posted by NapoleonXIV

How about politicians supporting the interests of people and groups who paid them off the most, critics of elected officials being accused of terrorism, citizen's votes being ignored or defrauded away, people voting on the basis of propaganda disguised as news and polititicians blatantly censoring even that. Yeh, we've had to face them since the beginnings too, but usually by kicking the perpetrators out, not giving them more money and a higher approval rating.

You're right. Its a good thing we killed Abraham Lincoln before he did any more damage.