How dumb some politicians can be

[ValenciaSon]

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[Edith]

LOLOLOL! Allow me to rave and rant a little...

I agree, most politicians are either extremely dumb or extremely conniving and cunning, or both... most of them live in a bubble, especially the ones who advocate cutbacks on education and health care. >:D >:D >:D

Our Minister of Finance, for instance, is a social misfit with a silly grin on his face who keeps insisting prices haven't risen as a result of the Euro. His name is Gerrit Zalm. Yet this same man openly admits he never visits a supermarket. What does he know about the situation of people - e.g. some of the elderly, the chronically ill and the handicapped - who hardly know how to make ends meet? And our Minister of Health, Hans Hoogervorst, just introduced a health care reform which means the end of socialized health care in Holland. His asinine, heartless statements concerning the chronically ill and the handicapped never cease to amaze me. ('The chronically ill benefit too much from our health care system'- Hans Hoogervorst)

These very same people tell us it's OK for the rich to become even richer. This is so unlike Holland. And of course, all these government cutbacks never affect the royal family which doesn't even have to pay taxes and which lives at our expense even though they are multi-billionaires.

Our prime minister, Jan-Peter Balkenende, is probably a nice guy to his family and friends but he's a typical example of someone who lives in a bubble too. He has alienated some of his progressively-minded Christian constituents by insisting on further government cutbacks, but they keep voting for him to remain on the safe side.

The Social Democrats (Labor) say they are still acting on behalf of the welfare state but in my opinion they aren't. More lying politicians...

To remain on the fair side, both the Left and the Right are responsible for the desintegration of our educational system. And the Left has ignored the problem of radical Islam for many years. They still refuse to take a stance against it. Sleep tight!

This year we had general elections in Holland. I would have voted for the Socialist Party of Jan Marijnissen even though I don't agree at all with their views on foreign policy, terrorism and NATO, but I was in Spain at that time so I couldn't.

Sorry for the rant!

[ValenciaSon]

Well I know too well it is not too hard to rant! Especially with the elected officials we find ourselves with. The man in the YouTube video I posted is George Allen, an extreme conservative republican who was running for re-election for senator of the state of Virginia. He was winning in the campaign until he made the "macaca (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaca_%28slur%29)" reference which was captured on video and quickly distributed on YouTube. The video received so many views on YouTube that the press was compelled to broadcast the video and that led to George Allen's failure to win a campaign he was already winning. I think it is fascinating because it shows that YouTube gives the average person a voice unlike any other previous mechanisms and should not be underestimated.

[greytop]

LOLOLOL! Allow me to rave and rant a little...

I agree, most politicians are either extremely dumb or extremely conniving and cunning, or both... most of them live in a bubble, especially the ones who advocate cutbacks on education and health care. >:D >:D >:D
..... / .....
Sorry for the rant!
Feel better now? ;D

IMHO the problem is that developed countries are now ungovernable! No matter what end of the political spectrum you favour, it is no longer possible to keep enough of the people happy for enough of the time to succeed "in power". Hence we go from one way of doing things to another as we get fed up and elect the opposition. Even coalitions end up doing it in a particular manner so that eventually they get the blame for all a country's ills.
With a dictator in power the same problem occurs, just less often usually!

[Edith]

Feel better now? ;D

Yup! Definitely! ;D

The thing is, I believe some of the measures I mentioned will have consequences which will come back to haunt us forever... one of the reasons why so many Europeans succumbed to totalitarian ideologies (Communism, National Socialism and Fascism) in the 1930s was poverty and lack of hope. This is why the welfare state was such a huge success in countries like Holland and Germany after World war II. Just look at what's happening in Eastern Germany now, where neo-Nazis are increasing in number. Or look at what happened in France, where disillusioned immigrant youths took to the streets last year. I don't think we have seen the last of this.

OK... end of rant! :D

[Edith]

He was winning in the campaign until he made the "macaca (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaca_%28slur%29)" reference which was captured on video and quickly distributed on YouTube.

Ah, thanks for the explanation and the Wikipedia link! I was a bit puzzled by the 'macaca' reference and for a moment I thought he was addressing someone of Greek descent called Dukakis or something like that. I didn't know anything about this incident, nor had I ever heard about George Allen. I'm familiar with the word 'macaque' and its racial implications though.

Wow, that guy has some issues. If it's true that his mother is of French-Tunisian-Jewish descent, he should know that people from the Mahgreb are often referred to as 'makaken' (macaques in French) in Belgium. BTW, this makes the Spanish word 'moros' sound positively harmless and inoffensive in comparison. :D

[Brian]

I hold most politicians, conservative, moderate, or liberal in extremely low regard. Any one of them is likely to change their moral or political platforms at the drop of a hat just for the purpose of gaining popular support.

For every stupid conservative out there- and what he did was ignorant, undoubtedly- there are equally inept moderates or liberals.

[ValenciaSon]

However, one would struggle to find the same arrogance and total lack of tact in liberals as one would easily find amongst the conservative legislators currently in office, as evidenced on a daily basis in and beyond Washington DC.

[gary]

I hold most politicians, conservative, moderate, or liberal in extremely low regard. Any one of them is likely to change their moral or political platforms at the drop of a hat just for the purpose of gaining popular support.

For every stupid conservative out there- and what he did was ignorant, undoubtedly- there are equally inept moderates or liberals.

In the UK as in the US, I expect, the only thing a politician is really interested in is being a politician - maintaining a nice cushty lifestyle paid for by us, the plebs...

[Brian]

However, one would struggle to find the same arrogance and total lack of tact in liberals as one would easily find amongst the conservative legislators currently in office, as evidenced on a daily basis in and beyond Washington DC.

I'll agree to disagree on that one. I've found just as many arrogant and tactless politicians on the other side of the aisle. It's not just conservatives that are like that. Rotten apples are everywhere.

[Acosta]

Well I know too well it is not too hard to rant! Especially with the elected officials we find ourselves with. The man in the YouTube video I posted is George Allen, an extreme conservative republican who was running for re-election for senator of the state of Virginia. He was winning in the campaign until he made the "macaca (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaca_%28slur%29)" reference which was captured on video and quickly distributed on YouTube. The video received so many views on YouTube that the press was compelled to broadcast the video and that led to George Allen's failure to win a campaign he was already winning. I think it is fascinating because it shows that YouTube gives the average person a voice unlike any other previous mechanisms and should not be underestimated.


LOL the Macaca moment. No doubt to be studied by politicians of how to muck up ones campaign.