Ever wonder what your tax dollars are paying politicians to do? I’m not talking about call girls and interns. That we know about. You probably know more about that kind of thing than you do about what’s going on in Congress.
So I’ll give you a couple of examples.
There’s H CON RES 27, which is about:
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that James Brown, also known as the “God Father of Soul”, should be recognized for his contributions to American music as one of the greatest and most influential entertainers of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s as an American cultural icon.
I’ve got nothing against James Brown, but I think our government has better things to do, don’t you?
Then there’s H CON RES 12, “Requiring the Display of the Ten Commandments in the United States Capitol”:
The Ten Commandments are a declaration of the fundamental principles that are the cornerstone of a fair and just society. Requires a copy of them to be prominently displayed in the U.S. Capitol at such place and in such manner as the Architect of the Capitol shall designate.
Separation of church and state, anyone? Anyone?
So how do you tell Congress to get a life? Or to get real? Or to get their heads out of their asses?
Easy. Go to GovIt. It’s a brand new site where you can see all the legislation that they’re “working” on and vote for or against each bill.
Then you have the option to click a button and send a message directly to your representatives telling them what you think. (Once you register and provide your zip code, they provide the representatives. In case you don’t know who they are…)
You can also see a little vote-ometer under each of your reps’ pictures to tell you how they’re voting on the legislation in question. You can see how the House and Senate as a whole are voting too.
And you can leave comments under each bill. Heh heh heh.
I recommend it highly. It’s an entertaining way to get informed. And you know how Americans like to be entertained.
There’s another new site called called SexyPolitics, which is designed to encourage young Americans to get political. On this site, you take quizzes on current political events and, with every answer you get right, you get to see somebody strip. (You pick a character from the selection they offer. None I would want to see without clothes, but I’m not in their target demographic.) I say whatever gets oblivious American youth to take out their earbuds or tear their faces away from World of Warcraft and pay attention to politics is a good thing, even if it does so by way of their lower brains.
Wha???! They don’t use the money to better our lives??! Better schools? Better healthcare? Better environmental guidelines? NO??!
Damn. I feel so cheated. ;)
That sexy politics thing is frightening on so many levels. Yikes! But, I suppose what ever works.
LBR, not my cup of tea either, but youth in “that culture” aren’t programmed to seek knowledge on their own. They’re programmed to have information fed to them, so it’s probably a good idea to disguise learning as entertainment. They relate to games. Look at how wildly successful all those moronic faceb**k games are!
“The Ten Commandments are a declaration of the fundamental principles that are the cornerstone of a fair and just society” could only be said by people who think they know what the ten commandments are but haven’t actually read them. Nor do they realise that there are different versions of whatever these words are and wherever they came from (they aren’t in the form of ten “commandments”). Leaving aside the coveting of your neighbour’s house, female slave, ox, donkey, and everthing else he owns (something that makes capitalism work, I would have thought) and coveting your neighbour’s wife (where would ET be without this?). We have adultery (are these people obsessed with sex or what) and bearing false witness. Not supposed to steal or murder (but these depend rather on what your definitions of stal and murder are) or swear. And then we have the following gems:
“I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,
But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”
What was that phrase again”fundamental principles that are the cornerstone of a fair and just society”, oh, that’s right.
♥ – - Thinking/missing you! Hope all is well in your world!!