Is the US becoming ungovernable?

[mnhtnbb]

This has been the topic of conversation at the dinner table and among some of our friends recently.

When the President of the United States takes time from his schedule to speak directly to
students, what happens? The right wing goes ballistic. They cannot hide their contempt
for a well educated, disciplined, intelligent man who happens to be black. They attack
his citizenship, his concern for others, and his motivation. They demonstrate amazing
disrespect for the Office of the President and the person occupying it.

When the President of the United States wants to follow through on a campaign promise
to reform access to health care in this country, what happens? The right wing goes ballistic.
They scream and carry on and threaten and hurl insults at elected representatives, wanting only
to disrupt the democratic process. Do they care their neighbor doesn't have insurance? No, they
care only for themselves.

How are we going to be able to successfully implement change when fully one third of the electorate
is behaving like unruly toddlers, stomping their feet, holding their breath, doing everything
to attract attention and disrupt whatever adult activity is taking place?

There are so many problems facing this country: the economy, jobs, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,
health care, energy dependence, cost of education...on and on. Yet the death of a rock star...or whatever celebrity event of the moment...draws more media attention than thoughtful discussion of the problems of the country.

But, hey, college football season has started and guess what's now front page news?

Take a look at the local Raleigh paper this morning:

http://www.newsobserver.com/content/print/front_pdf/1-A-Fri-September-4-09.pdf

[DJ13]

1. Its only ungovernable because we allow corporate influence

Remove their interests from the debate and things would settle down rapidly.

[Toucano]

2. Yes.

But not for a "compromise" over the right to OWN people, it would have never existed anyway.

It has always been a tenuous relationship of tolerance and interdependence. Lacking those aspects, it need not exist.

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

[mnhtnbb]

18. The ability to get along--live and let live--seems to be seriously compromised.

[monmouth]

3. As long as the media continues to air their tantrums they will keep

it up. Take away the cameras and these crowds will disperse quickly, I'm pretty sure.

[mnhtnbb]

19. The media has a vested interest in conflict. I doubt the cameras are going away any time soon.

[Double T]

4. 'Becoming' was a long time ago.

And the USA is NOT too big to fail.

[johnnie]

5. It started with Clinton's pee pee in my opinion

The pukes could never get over Watergate and have been whining ever since. Carter was a free-bee in a way, but after that they began to act like idiots. When Clinton ran they were scared to death that they may lose their position so they went after him with everything and anything they could.

The right-wing people of America are the scum of this Nation. They don't really give a shit about this country, just about "winning the game". It's rare they have any real sense of what is going on, they lie about any issue they speak about and they run pretty much all of the major news outlets so their crap can be spread to the masses.

It is going to take a hell of a long time before this country can get back on its feet and start evolving. There is still too much racism, bigotry and stupidity for it to happen any time soon. They are bullies and do not have the smarts to learn to live together with anyone who may see things different than they do.

It may even take a "revolution" of sorts, but they will be in for a surprise when they find out that the "pussy libs" love this country too and will not back down.

[mnhtnbb]

20. The oligarchy discovered that assassination was not necessary with Clinton

They found the way to use his own weakness as a means of limiting his effectiveness.

[Juche]

6. I am not sure

It sounds morbid, but the reality of the situation is that many of the mindless wingnuts are 60+, whereas youth in this country are much more progressive. Youth went dem and Obama 2-1 over McCain in 2008, and the average right wing media listener is about 65. Many of the people on youtube screaming about socialism are old enough to get medicare. So in 10 years about half of the wingnuts will be dead and replaced by socially and economically progressive young people. In another 10 years the rest of them will be gone.

Give it a decade.

[RagAss]

9. Lets hope so. I hate to think that medical advances will keep them alive longer.

[girl gone mad]

14. It's true.

The people acting like a group of crazy spoiled brats are, for the most part, over 60. I also happen to think they are extremely out of touch with the realities of the modern world because many of them are retired, have pensions, are on Medicaid and never had any real experience with globalization and the pro-corporate, anti-worker changes that have occurred in America over the last 30 years.

As I told a friend yesterday, it's not the people screaming at town halls that politicians should concern themselves with. It's all of the under 40s who can't find good jobs, can't afford insurance or good housing and look at the national debt and our ongoing wars and see a grim future for themselves and their children. Disaffected youth start radical political movements, not confused senior citizens.

[mnhtnbb]

22. I hope the disaffected youth get in the streets to counter the confused senior

citizens. I like to think that at age 58 myself, I would participate with the disaffected youth.

[Juche]

30. Disaffected young veterans start really bad radical political movements

That is a real danger, but I don't think it is a big risk here. It was disaffected veterans who almost overthrew the US government in 1934 with the Business plot, and it was disaffected veterans who stood with Franco, Mussolini and Hitler when they overtook their respective nations.

I honestly don't think that is a risk here though, as barely 0.2% of the nation have served in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Having said that (that young disaffected veterans are 10x more dangerous than non-veterans IMO), I do think you are right. My nieces will grow up in a world where natural resources crunches, unaffordable healthcare and an economy that only benefits the wealthy will squeeze the hell out of them. I have no idea how they'll react. I hope they move to the left and not the right though. That would be a shame if they did.

On another note, disaffected youths are why Obama is president and to a lesser degree why the dems are in charge. Obama won the popular vote by a 9 million majority. Young people, who made up about 1/6 of the electorate went Obama 2-1 and gave him a 7 million vote majority among their demographic. W/o the youth vote Obama would've lost about 80 electoral votes, and about 80% of his popular vote majority.

So its not all bad.

[hay rick]

32. Spoiled brats over 60 are more visible

but they have plenty of company in the lower age brackets. I hear the same asinine "socialized medicine", "health care for illegal aliens", and "government paying for abortion" rants from my 40-something and 50-something co-workers. They just don't have the spare time to get involved in protests.

Our politicians remain subservient to the corporate interests which are safeguarded by a combination of campaign donations, controlled media, and loud-mouthed dupes. Meanwhile the majority of the population is rapidly getting poorer and less secure. It is a recipe for cataclysm.

[girl gone mad]

36. Good points..

and scary to think about.

[mnhtnbb]

21. It just seems like so long to wait after we waited through the last 8 years!

[harkadog]

33. That is exactly what we thought and said in the 60s

It didn't work out that way.

[FarCenter]

7. Yes, it should be broken up into about 6 countries

East Coast, South, Midwest, West, West Coast and Hawaii. Canada can have Alaska.

Compared with most other countries, the United States is unuaually large, both with respect to population and geography.

[earth mom]

8. Great idea! I've long thought this country was too large & complex to manage

properly from Washington DC.

[mnhtnbb]

23. I often joke that we should ship all the fundies to the "heartland"

and let them have their no-taxes, no government interference, no choice life and let the rest of
live in community with our fellow citizens. They'd be howling by spring when tornadoes would
rip through the area and they'd have no services to help them.

[create.peace]

35. not that it would ever go over, but bioregional division would make sense to me....nt

[Autonomy]

I'm going to channel Cenk for a moment

Would these people go cuckoo if it were a white liberal in the WH? Yes. They proved it with the nutbag stuff they pulled in the '90s. Does the color of Obama's skin play a part in the reason they hate him? Of cooooouuurse! Does all the nutjob stuff they pull mean the country is falling apart? No. It's a bit unraveled at the fringes, but it's been that way for a long time. JFK inspired a lot of right-wing nutbaggery almost 50 years ago, and one (or more?) of the fringe kooks went as far as to kill him.

BUT, here's the thing, MOST people are fairly sane. They are susceptible to silly season, and polls go south when a president is constantly attacked, even if the attacks are pure nonsense, like the attacks on Obama have been. But, like in the case of Clinton in the '90s, the lunatic fringe has a lot of trouble closing the deal, as was the case with Bill Clinton in '98-'99, when his poll numbers actually skyrocketed during the Lewinsky thing. When the economy turns around, and some foreign policy stuff starts paying off, Obama's numbers will rise again, and the kooks will frustrated once again that they could not get their way.

I am assuming, however, that this whole thing goes more like 1999 than 1963. God forbid.

[FiveGoodMen]

12. "MOST people are fairly sane"

and yet sanity is nowhere to be found in our national discourse.

If most people are sane, then apparently only the insane are allowed any input on public policy.

[mnhtnbb]

24. When the economy turns around--that's the key phrase. I'd give it

a 50/50 chance of improving or getting worse.

[ananda]

10. No.

It's just not governable by liberal non-corporatists.

[mnhtnbb]

25. True. The Bushies established zones for free speech away from

the action and merrily ignored the millions of people who took to the streets to protest the war in Iraq.

The Dems need to wake up to the power in hand.

[BlueIdaho]

11. No, but the republican party

seems hell bent on becoming an irrelevant footnote in the process before the end for the first decade of the twenty first century.

[FiveGoodMen]

13. They'll gain seats in 2010 and probably the White House in 2012.

The Democrats can't decide who's side they're on, don't know how to fight, and are losing their base with every betrayal.

[mnhtnbb]

26. We wish. I don't see evidence of that, yet.

[Mudoria]

15. It's becoming ungovernable in the sense that both parties are so polarised

You know, there used to be a time in this country when both parties could work toegther and pass landmark legislation that helped all Americans. Nowadays it's mostly scoring political points imo and both parties are guilty of this. The Repubs have taken this to the extreme, they aren't called the party of No without reason.

[mnhtnbb]

27. Go Heels! And yes, I agree.

[Toucano]

16. There should be one Representative for every 50,000 people.

I see no reason why technology couldn't be employed to administer a 6,000 member house.

[mnhtnbb]

28. AGGH. As a professional manager, that boggles my mind.

[damntexdem]

17. Was it ever governable?

[mnhtnbb]

29. There were times when people pulled together for the good of the country.

But you may be right--those times may be the exception and the norm is polarity and conflict. Rather
a depressing thought.

[BlooInBloo]

31. Reaganism has sunk deep into the national consciousness.

[spanone]

34. who are those people and where did they come from?

[applegrove]

37. The powers that be in the right wing, corporations and millionaires don't

want the country to be governable. They hate government and will do whatever it takes to make sure it remains as "ungoverned" as it was under W. (he ran government badly because he did not believe in it).

[applegrove]

38. The powers that be in the right wing, corporations and millionaires don't

want the country to be governable. They hate government and will do whatever it takes to make sure it remains as "ungoverned" as it was under W. (he ran government badly because he did not believe in it).

[dgibby]

39. Makes me wonder if this guy is, right afterall.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123051100709638419.html

Russian professor predicts breakup of USA.