A very depressing must read from Eric Blumrich. (BushFlash)

[genieroze]

Please read the whole thing.
I'm quoting part of the conclusion
"In conclusion:

We all know things in our nation's capital are screwed up- we've all known it for a long time. It doesn't matter whether republicans or democrats are running things. We have good candidates, but as soon as they get into washington, they turn into buffoons. Such is common knowledge.

But it isn't until you go into Washington, and walk in the rarified air of the institutions of that city, that you truly appreciate the nature and depth of the problem.

There is no hope for change in that city- none- nada- nil- zilch. If the liberals and the progressives want to change things, there's only one solution- and that's taking over the democratic party, at the local level.

It doesn't matter that Dean is Chairman- the party needs to be changed, from the bottom up. If you think a savior is going to emerge in a political culture that is mired in nihilistic opportunism and feckless navel-gazing, you're sadly mistaken."

http://www.ericblumrich.com/ipdi.html

[mikehiggins]

1. This cannot be repeated enough times

The Beltway Dems, just like the GOPukes, are not the "agents of change" this nation needs if it is to have any chance of survival. What we are looking at are the closing days of the Roman Republic when "nihilistic opportunism and feckless navel-gazing" was the order of the day, as it is now.

Whenever someone talks about nominating a Beltway Dem for President I cringe inside. If they can prosper in D.C. they will be useless in the rest of the world.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

3. It struck me when reading your post

that both the RW and the left, feel we are in the "end times." We just have very different definitions of what that means. That strikes me as ironic.

[yurbud]

5. I don't think it's the end, just the necessary swelling before zit pops

It might take something the magnitude of the American Revolution or Civil War to straighten things out, but you can't screw such a large portion of the population for so long without getting a boot in the ass.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

6. wonderful analogy

"coming to a head" and all that.

[yurbud]

7. don't make me use canker sores...

[TallahasseeGrannie]

9. I hate them

come to think of it, I haven't had one in about 10 years. Maybe it gets better as you get older.

[yurbud]

12. yeah, zits are kind of an abstraction to me now too.

[truth2power]

11. Gore vidal said

"Anyone who can get elected under the present system ought not be allowed to serve." (Close to the actual quote.)

[MuseRider]

2. Man oh man

that really made my day.

Seriously, I do believe he is correct. Having been around long enough, even though not nearly as engaged as I am now, you can see that this has happened.

We are in for some interesting times I am afraid. Notice I said interesting, not necessarily good.

[yurbud]

4. unfortunately, if you have any dealings with local gov't, corruption is

there too.

You can go to your city hall, county board of commissioners, or even school board, and you will find them mostly filled by those who see elected office as pursuing business by other means. They want to get contracts for their business, or throw contracts to friends in exchange for other business later, or make it difficult for competitors to break into the neighborhood.

Until there is an absolute firewall between profit and public service, we will at best beat back this fire temporarily. Then when the wind is at their backs again, we will get burned.

[SharonAnn]

8. That's why we need to start at the local level. Keep honesty and

accountability as primary requirements.

Unfortunately, we elect them and then ignore them. That gives them plenty of room to do what they want when there's no active oversight.

That's the problem with democracy. We have to keep paying attention and act when necessary. It's not a lazy person's preferred form of government.

[hang a left]

10. Even the Little League Board is wired.

So disheartening when you realize there aren't any fixes. Probably not in our generation or in that of our children's. We really need to start over from scratch. But according to the article the 20 something up and comers are cut from the same cloth.

Sometimes I think they just want the good, honest, and principaled people to give up.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

13. Truth is often depressing, still we MUST face up to it. nt.

[katty]

14. Agree-the decay has hit the roots, pull & clean it out or

painful, slow death and CONSTANT chaos.