I've had enough!

I haven't been spending a lot of time in this forum. Almost nobody has been spending a lot of time in this forum. The debates didn't happen in May and June. The primaries didn't happen in July. We've got a problem.

The election just seems pointless. It seems like everytime I sat down to write more for my platform, I felt like I was wasting valuable time on a day dream.

So let's get a few things straight.
Above Politics is electing a president and vice president who will run a dedicated forum for commentary on the real elections. This is no small thing.

The Above Network is going places. Somebody in this election is going to have a pretty respectable soapbox from which to tell the people what's what in the runup to the presidential primaries, and then right on through to the general election.


So it's about time somebody told you what they're REALLY going to do if elected.


I will neither raise or lower your taxes. I won't even leave them the same. Not my call.
I won't increase or decrease funding for NASA. I won't seal the border or give amnesty. I won't speed up or abolish executions of death sentences. I can't give you gay marriage, civil unions, or a constitutional amendment banning them. I can't fix the electoral system. I can't save your 2nd amendment rights or pass laws to keep criminals from abusing that right. I can't get rid of the fed or reform it, bring back the gold standard or the silver standard, tie our currency to a basket of goods, or even shrink the trade gap any more than I already have by boycotting Walmart. None of that stuff is my call.

Every one of us who is running has at times spoken as if we were being elected to wield a magic wand. We're not. We're being elected to communicate.

So here are the things that I think we absolutely need to be talking about, and the way that I'll talk about them:

Candidates
First and foremost, we have to talk about the candidates. You deserve to be represented by someone who won't push one candidate or one party down your throat, but who will work hard to build a first-class collection of objective factual information on what candidates are saying and doing, what their political strategies are, and how political analysts are interpreting it all. You also deserve an independent analysis of it all from outside of the mainstream media. Above all you deserve a voice. The Above Politics president must not only be able to provide the best possible coverage of the election, but should welcome and help make possible a fair and civil discussion.

I'm done pulling ideas out of thin air for this campaign and arguing about things that aren't going to happen. If you want serious election coverage on Above Politics, I'll bring that here.

Iraq
We need to talk about how the war in Iraq is going to end. Not just about whats wrong with it, but about what kind of results are and are not acceptable, and how we will get a conclusion that we can live with and bring our finest- my brothers in arms- home from that god-awful place. We need to talk about how the candidates in the real election intend to achieve that.

Energy
Gas prices are out of control. Who is evaluating politicians records and their statements to give you the information you need to weigh their respective plans in this area?
Who is questioning "progressive" candidates about the fact that gasoline is taxed at the same rate regardless of whether it is going into police cars, school busses, or the trucks of a multi-million dollar corporation?
Who is questioning conservatives about their tollerancce of states regulating different blends of gasoline, thus forcing prices up, when the commerce clause of the constitution, as interpreted by the SCOTUS, would arguably put that into the federal arena?
Who is looking into the role of energy companies in this campaign?

Immigration Reform
Whos looking at the influence of corporations and individuals who encourage illegal immigration in order to unfairly exploit immigrants in this campaign?

And perhaps above all, Lies in the Media and Dirty Politics
Back in January, there was an amendment to an ethics bill that would have provided oversight of lobbyists who practice "astroturfing", which is essentially the manufacturing of phony grass roots campaigns.
A lobbyist named Richard Viguerie, who has been called, "The Funding Father" of the Republican Party circulated an outright lie that the amendment was going to affect bloggers, even members of forums like ATS, and for a time the blogosphere ae that nonsense up. The amendment was defeated because the people were lied to.

The Above Politics President had better be someone who keeps an eye on what's going on and knows how to detect and spotlight BS, because that's a big part of politics today. For crying out loud they are labeling candidates pictures as Osama ("by accident" of course) and assigning news contributors who used to work for candidates to give "objective" analysis of how that candidate did in a debate. Now that is what I call being alarmingly full of it, and that's the kind of stuff you're going to hear about from me when it happens.


So if anybody is actually still reading this forum, let me know. Do you want to have an election or not? And if you do want to have it, should it be a game, or should something good for Above Politics come out of it?

Bottom line, I haven't got a platform anymore. I'm throwing it out. Whether or not the rest of the candidates want to admit it, they don't have platforms either. This job that we are running for has not the first thing to do with how we would run this country.

I'm going to the candidate advocacy forum, and I'm gonna start doing the job. That's my campaign from here on out. If it's good stuff, vote me in to do it officially.

It too late for a new guy to get in on this?

The Vagabond has hit upon something important . Since the debates and the primary's didn't take place I have began to think the whole election is just some kind of way of sparking debates on AP. Still I cant complain my platform did lead me into getting feet wet in the debating arena.
Even with an academic exercise such as this one the political process has to take place other wise the election cant take place.

I checked on the timeframes for these elections and saw from Majic's post introducing post that the elections are due to take place in November (11/4-11/11/2007) and for my non US ATS members (4/11-11/11/2007)

And as The Vagabond mentioned, these are exciting times for ATS.

I do have a question or two.

Who is driving the elections from an administration view point? And I have mentioned this already in one of my podcasts (yes a shameless plug!!!) we have ATS Mix. What about a debate with all the candidates on ATS Mix (and yes, I have no idea if this can be done) and giving each candidate some time for their issues and to address some standard questions.

I think in a round about kind of way, I would be happy to help drive the election process as I consider it just that important!!!

EDIT - So important I have flagged this!!


[edit on 21-8-2007 by Freedom ERP]

Originally posted by The Vagabond
Above Politics is electing a president and vice president who will run a dedicated forum for commentary on the real elections. This is no small thing.

The Above Network is going places. Somebody in this election is going to have a pretty respectable soapbox from which to tell the people what's what in the runup to the presidential primaries, and then right on through to the general election.

Yeah, this is kinda why I posted waaaaay back when a little thread called Why do you want to be President of UTS?. Because it's NOT really President of the USA, or any other country. It's more like President of United Top Secret than anything else. Anyway, the suggestion ended up in ridicule and broke down into retarded backbiting.

When we get a little more (ie. any) guidance on this election, I'll resume posting on what I'll do if elected. Until then, meh.

Florida legislature strips voters of influence in presidential primaries

Here's a development with major implications for who can and can't afford to tap one of the biggest fundraising spots in the country (and campaign in a vital swing state) that the mainstream media has said curiously little about. Just one example of the kind of issues that the President of Above Politics, whoever that ends up being, should be expected to raise for our community.

Maybe if nobody cares that's an indication that it was a stupid idea in the first place.

The idea was a good one to start with but the political process never took place and the recent "enforcement " of the T&C would have caused problems but it matters very little now.

Who will count the votes?

reply to post by xpert11


What is this "enforcement" you refer to?

See this thread for more on that matter.
Cheers xpert11.

I, for one, am interested. Grateful too. Real life politics have gotten so out of hand that I lost interest years ago. The choice between con man "A", pirate "B" and the occasional clown "C" (thrown in to divide the conservative vote) left me with little interest in the proceedings.

Today's political climate is like a soap opera. I don't watch soap operas. I figure if something of pith and moment occurs, I'll hear about it. I don't hear much on the political scene.

Since there are educated and well-read people on the board willing to sift through all the crap to get to the meat of the political matter and inform the rest of us, I have renewed my interest. I have neither the time, energy, nor inclination for such an endeavor as these ATS candidates so generously offer. The added bonus of knowing their audience is not so easily misled gives me hope that I may actually learn something useful in their profferings.

To whomever wins this ATS election (if it ever happens) I hope you consider the possibility of choosing your "cabinet members" from those who also ran. A network of informed "informers" keeping us all up to date on the continual shenanigans of our political body would be a boon to all.

Best of luck to all. Don't give up Vagabond. The silent majority really does appreciate all your effort.