Game of Seats.

Introduction|||Game of Thrones, one of my favourite shows today and that has come about in a good long while... Why such a fan you ask? "Geez, just falling for another popular fad of a TV show, I watched an episode it wasn't all that it was cracked out to be."

(Readers of the book are flinching in disgust because I failed to mention of Fire and Ice.)

Well, the show, (yes, not the book) is all that I can comment on. I haven't had time to pick up the written series, and even though people might respond with "if you have time to watch the show..." I must retort with the fact that books are another matter to me entirely, and while I can pause a TV show to take a call, I find myself lost and disinterested if I 'pause' a book.

In any case, I only have the show to go on, but why does it catch my attention as it does so many others? Why is it one of the most popular illegally downloaded shows on the planet? Because it hits true to home. Because it tells the story of a kingdom where the bad guys win, the good guys die, and in some way some how, you end up rooting for a bad guy without even realizing it. Just like real life:

Welcome to...

Game of Seats

We all know that the biggest chair to sit in is somewhere on Capitol Hill, which seat it is exactly is probably up for debate but I'm sure it's one with plenty influence and power. Unfortunately we don't have a couple thousand swords melted together with a rag tag group of inbred royal and not so royal misfits vying for the supreme power of plucking their arse on it to warm the rusty steel burrs.

Yep,

Instead we have lobbyists around the nation salivating at the thought of getting their groomed robot champion of the people into keeping old worn in chairs warm with their plump behinds for a coupe hours a day fighting for all their constituents so they can represent the voice of the people.

(Or is it the other way around?)

ATS Thread: Where's my bribe?

What is the difference between lobbying and bribery?


Now,

The government being bought and paid for is not really news to anyone. Since the days of the very first elections there were whispers of conspiracy and misbehaviour behind the electoral process.

(While we talk about the current state of so called democracy lets please forget that the USA is supposed to be a republic and what it resembles now is more like a cesspool of failed policies and political mumbo jumbalaya, but thats neither here nor there in this context, because we are analyzing the words of the word.

Demolition of Democracy

One thing I notice is that any intended purpose of a system usually has the lifespan of the person who created it, if, (AND THAT IS A BIG "IF") the people who benefit/suffer the effects of the system, are lucky.

I'm sure the Quran as a great spoken tradition may have been great at settling tribal disputes, settling the nerves of fathers losing their daughters to that really hunky dude down the street dirt path, who has 6 camels and is always flashing Drachmas around only to go around breaking a young girls hymen heart.

"Ow Boncho, why do you have to stab us in our Musilix?"

Oh don't worry, the same could be said by whoever set up the Pope Show, and whoever invented that silly hat. Lets give supreme power to people and prance them around like they are somehow better than us and more in tune with god. Completely unrelated, were going to agree with everything they say and follow every instruction they give, and we will also not want to question them as it's disrespectful to god.

Yes yes, I know, you want to tell me how every your religion isn't like this and it's merely for yadda yadda, blah blah, unicorns and bunnies, pink lady dynamite, waa waa wascobar had a little cherry jar. Oops doodle doodle Mother Goose lost her noodle.

It's okay, I am beyond saving.

Meh, my thoughts on religion are found here.

My point is that no matter the system, while it may be developed with the greatest intentions, it doesn't take long for those to go completely out the window. Most of the "wars" being fought today, the people who are involved waging them, have no idea why they are even doing it.

They just simply jump at the sign of "evil" because they believe they are good. So therefore the other side must be evil. Makes sense don't it?

I really would like to stay away from the cliche but it's gonna come out no matter what. The path to hell was paved in nutella good intentions. (Sorry, nutella is so damn good I bet the path to hell is actually paved in that to lure people to it, it makes perfect sense.)

While wars today are fought in the name of democracy as if democracy were a moral ideal as well as an easily identifiable government style, it is not really that black and white. The inventors of democracy were the Greeks who lived in small city-states called poleis. Contact with the wide world was slower. Life lacked modern conveniences. Voting machines were primitive, at best. The people -- the ones who put the demo- in democracy -- were intimately involved in decisions that affected them and would be appalled that bills to be voted on now require reading through thousand-page tomes. They might be even more aghast that people actually vote on those bills without doing the reading.

Democracy Then and Now


And for a purely descriptive version:

Democracy [demos ~= the people; cracy >kratos = strength/rule, so democracy = rule by the people] is considered an invention of the ancient Athenian Greeks. This page on Greek democracy brings together articles on the stages democracy went through in Greece, as well as the controversy Greek democracy caused, with passages from period thinkers on the institution of democracy and its alternatives.

So reptilian overlord aliens disguised as overweight, pimply, rotting teeth baby boomers the politicians don blue and red war paint and go into battle in room for overpaid self-important narcissists and claim to be fighting for each person of the land so long as they wear at least one of the same colors.

It never really is a discussion of right and wrong unless you believe blue is right and red is wrong. Or red is right and blue is wrong. The division among themselves and their constituents is unbelievable. It is amazing they ever get anything done at all. But do they?

What is the intended purpose of the red and blue anyway? If the lot of them was stranded on some Island somewhere the colors would have no consequence. In fact you might actually see them try to run something efficiently for once in there life. (That tends to happen when faced with life and death consequences.)

So what are they doing up there exactly? Creating division. Blue vs Red, I win you lose. You lose I win. Always a loser.

Conclusion

Here is where I will make my final point, which is really a simple point entirely. I probably could have made a general chit chat thread to get this one across but I wanted to lay some back story into it. To let people take the time to have it really sink in.

You see, there are two sides to the argument, but we all accuse and some of us know or at least believe that it is two side to the same coin. Buy how big is this coin and how close are the two sides to each other really? This might be up for debate and it's exactly why I bring up this topic.

Think about this... While one might think that a Conservative politician that is Pro gun, Anti abortion, Pro life, Anti pot, etc etc... is about the best candidate one could hope for as a Gun manufacturer lobbyist... one might be totally ass backward mistaken.

No instead, they might much rather have a bunch of anti gun, anti 2nd amendment progressives who are actively seeking gun control.

"Why the hell would Smith & Wesson want that Boncho? You're nuts."

The same reason a snowplow driver wants it to snow in the summer… So he has work. And lots of it.

If the big gun manufacturer/dealer gets his wish by having a leftist ruling party hell bent on locking guns up or at least appear to be like such) they might see quadrupled prophets, a wider customer base, increase in stock pilings.

I am not saying for sure it happens like this everytime, but I really believe the only time it doesn't is probably when some boy scout comes into town, new to the political game, ignorant to how it works, (or a little slow upstairs) and truly doesn't believe anything is going on even though it might be right in front of his nose. (Ned Stark)

People get worried their guns are going to be taken or they might not get one in the first place, they end up blaming Obama. This is a result of public perception and general fear of the party in power that isn't your party. And while BHO has been in power gun sales have risen drastically.

This makes me believe it's quite possible the collusion is much deeper than people even accuse. So bad that behind closed doors all the blue and reds are sitting around thinking up new was to divide and divert attention away from them and instead onto the people between one another. One always takes blue team and the other red.

And there always has to be a winner or loser.


Who are the losers? The people buying into the con game. Why did I put this into Posse Comitatus? Exactly for this reason. The leaders are waging a war and playing it out with blue and red chips. And every time someone subscribes to the two party system, they are adding chips to the board.

1 in 4 Adults now have a criminal record. I've mentioned a few times that the stats in the thread here are actually on the lower end when considering the age of offenders and the people who don't fall into the categories that we see locked up normally. ex. Women and children. Take them out of the equation and you see a lot more people with criminal records and that are behind bars.

The war on __________ (Fill in the blank). As soon as you let the government make choices for you, you take away all the responsibility from the people. Remove responsibility and you have a bunch of lazy, whiny individuals that are not very individual at all.

None have critical thinking skills and it's very hard for them too complete every day tasks (let alone make every day decisions that might affect the outcome of one's life) that they just pass on the responsibility upward to someone who does care, that is taking money in from a lobby that wants to control every aspect of your life to make money on it.

And they do! They paid for it.

Giving you a bump, hate to see such an investment in time not get any responses.

Unfortunately I have nothing to add except you may very well be right(the gun lobbyist thing, that concept there).

Originally posted by TheLaughingGod
Giving you a bump, hate to see such an investment in time not get any responses.

Unfortunately I have nothing to add except you may very well be right(the gun lobbyist thing, that concept there).

Thanks for the nod. Sadly, most threads I post which take a bit of time and effort rarely get attention.

reply to post by boncho

And there always has to be a winner or loser.

Factions exist. It does not matter what the labels are..... communist, fascist, capitalist, socialist, democrat republican labor conservative liberal, etc, or religious like catholic or protestant... factions will always exist no matter the labels.

When the electorate is distracted the factions gain power.

The political landscape is so treacherous that there are factions within factions. think about that for a moment.

Take for example, Oliver North. He represented the praxis of a faction (neo-conservative) within another popular faction (republican party) and way down the line at the end of the day he also connected to another set of faction (us marine, american patriot, Reagan loyalist etc.).

I think your Game of Seats is a pretty good idea. The people who take these seats belong to and are the members of factions. They may wear an american flag on their suit lapel but their allegiances are co-shared with other factions, namely, campaign contributors, which are, in effect, other factions.

Originally posted by TheLaughingGod
Giving you a bump, hate to see such an investment in time not get any responses.

Unfortunately I have nothing to add except you may very well be right(the gun lobbyist thing, that concept there).

I'll second that bump. It's friday night. We can break the rules.

Speaking of Game of Thrones, is it a study of leadership power and factions?
I have never seen a clip of GoT, only the still images, here and there on the internet. Is this show any good? Why do people like it? Is it a late night soap opera from the dark ages?

To explain my perspective, currently I am studying up to 3 different classes of leadership: NASA and Richard Nixon and Howard Hughes.

boncho was a good idea to point to this thread ATS Thread: Where's my bribe? about the Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton left a voicemail for a lobbyist in which she brazenly begs for a "contribution."

boncho, have you ever been exposed to or been offered bribes in the normal activities of your work life?

Democrats and Republicans do not represent their constituency. They lie to, cheat, and steal from the American public. Torches, tar and feathers, and pitchforks are necessary tools for constituents to bring to town hall meetings hosted by Democrats and Republicans.

I am not familiar with the Game of Thrones meme. Maybe when the DVD gets to my public library, I can watch it. I would read the book, but I never read fiction.

reply to post by SayonaraJupiter

Speaking of Game of Thrones, is it a study of leadership power and factions?
I have never seen a clip of GoT, only the still images, here and there on the internet. Is this show any good? Why do people like it? Is it a late night soap opera from the dark ages?

Some have called it "Sorpranos of the Dark Ages." Why do people like it? Well... It's one show/book[story] that speaks to a lot of people. Keeps you entertained with the dysfunctional relationships and the antagonists and "bad guys" are plentiful. Actually, it's hard to determine who you are supposed to root for sometimes, because the protagonists who everyone gets to know and like suddenly die.

I guess, it's closer to real life than most hollywood type stories. The viciousness, the vindictiveness, and treachery of the bad guys, is brilliant. And the fact that the most cunning, and most conniving always make it out on top, similar again, to real life.

boncho, have you ever been exposed to or been offered bribes in the normal activities of your work life?

I'd say I'm quite familiar with quid pro quo in many areas of business, finance, personal and just about every aspect of life where one thing can be traded for something of equal or greater value.