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When lawmakers are lawbreakers.


kvnchrist

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  • 3 weeks later...

Didnt bother to watch the whole thing. Saw the whole of the problem encapsulated in a nutshell with the Nixon pic at the beginning.

 

But how do you define "corrupt"?

Upholding the law has become a partisan issue

The right of people to protect themselves from would-be murderers is a partisan issue

The idea that the law applies to everyone has become a partisan issue

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How much money you have, and how much influence you have, determines how justice is applied. If you have enough money, or enough influence, you can get away with murder.

 

Politicians have been corrupt, and self-serving since they first came on the scene. Nothing has really changed there. It has just become more apparent.

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Not even a brief statement of your position?

Whenever a video begins to show the flag, the constitution and various founding fathers..that is when I get out my hip waders..... because I know there is an attempt to sell me something that would be unpalatable without the associated icons to sugar coat the message.

"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel"- Ben Johnson

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How much money you have, and how much influence you have, determines how justice is applied. If you have enough money, or enough influence, you can get away with murder.

 

Politicians have been corrupt, and self-serving since they first came on the scene. Nothing has really changed there. It has just become more apparent.

 

And this has been so since the beginning of time. I think people believe politics is new..it isn't. It started when the corrupt lobbyist Serpent convinced Eve the apple was a good idea and Adam should try it also. ha ha ha

 

Until people pay attention and take action nothing changes. You can not stamp it completely out but you can make it harder.

 

And I agree with Aurielius about the video. Even if I agreed 100% with what they said (and I don't) I really dislike that tactic.

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The video was a bit over the top and to be honest largely focuses on 'the government' as opposed to those individuals who are law breakers and thus can (at least theoretically) be held to account under the law (where organisations largely cannot, instead they can have some administrative/financial actions taken against them).

 

For governmental entities (as opposed to individuals within), breaches of laws should be something for which they are held to account no more softly than that of the private sector - the only difference may lie in the degree to which that breach is made public (for reasons of national interest). For those breaches that are directly applicable to the department's area of designated expertise / power (for example health departments breaching health laws) should result in far harsher penalties, than were a breach made against a law that is not their expertise (a health department breaching a tax law). These penalties should be recorded and made public within the year (although the specifics of the breach and penalties may need to be obscured to protect privacy of individuals).

 

I am of the opinion that all individuals in the public service should be held to a higher ethical standard. That does not necessarily mean higher penalties under the law, but that they be subject to reviews of their employment at the least (even for minimal offences). Breaches of the law by individuals within other governmental entities should be subject to harsher penalties only where those individuals breach laws as relevant to the power of those particular governmental entities (e.g. a treasury official committing forgery or someone from an environmental protection agency illegally dumping). On the other hand there are entities within the government to which I believe there is sufficient reason that individuals within should face stricter penalties in the event of any breach. These include elected representitives, the judiciary, the police and the attorney generals.

Edited by AJunkMailBin
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Nice idea, but, it'll never happen. The people in power, you know, the ones that make the laws...... aren't about to do something to cut their own throats. That's the main reason it's impossible to get any kind of meaningful campaign finance laws passed.

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Nice idea, but, it'll never happen. The people in power, you know, the ones that make the laws...... aren't about to do something to cut their own throats. That's the main reason it's impossible to get any kind of meaningful campaign finance laws passed.

 

 

I had about three paragraphs of what you said in two lines....heh

 

That is why we don't have term limits on many of the offices. Why there is not any huge lobbyist laws. This is why they can completely shut down the government and not pay the bills or employee wadges, except their own salary.

 

It is what I like to call a "circular groove" which is what happens when a catch-22 has a baby with a cluster f---.

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It may be that what we think of as corruption is really just another aspect of the basic human survival instinct. It is hardwired into us to look after our selves and to protect and nurture our families. Looking after our own interests is an imperative for most people, and widely accepted. Yet when we take this same imperative into business or government we then call it corruption.

 

What we would like to demand of public figures is a level of selflessness that is probably unrealistic. I don't say that such selfless individuals do not exist, but I think it unlikely that such an individual could rise to a prominent position in business or government because in fact of the selflessness of their own nature.

 

For a person who wants to rise up in this world, a high degree of selflessness could actually be a character flaw. Their inability or unwillingness to pursue their own interests preventing their attainment of any real power. Thus only an individual who has a strong predisposition toward corruption would ever obtain a leadership position.

 

Just something to think about.

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Thing is, we supposedly elect those folks to do what is in the best interests of the NATION, not the best interests of themselves..... even those that profess they will do the former, end up doing the latter, because "that's just the way things work in Washington".

 

We have the best government money an buy. Provided you have enough money.... If you don't, then, you simply don't matter.

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