You said: “How is it that the citizens of a democracy would fail to rouse themselves to turn out of office a governing cabal that lacked even a fig leaf of legitimacy? Why weren’t we so appalled that we did not take to the streets to get rid of office holders who represented no one but themselves and their rich friends? ”

As an outside observer, I have been asking myselef those very same questions for years…

Thanks fir asking.

The solutions are complex, but I have made a placeholder, which I will be building on over the next few months. It’s partly based on “4 Essential Ways To Save The Earth”, with a lot more soya to the bones. Have a glance at http://www.thegreenprint.org.

Keith

Ghandi, allegedly MLK’s role model, made it more direct. He had an eloquent argument for the British, but he also had a simple instruction for the masses. If you don’t like British rule then don’t buy their stuff. “Economic rebellion” is a very powerful tool.

You said “dialog is nice, but somehow I am losing trust daily of believing that these elected officials represent the views of the masses.”. People get the government they deserve. If the pols are not delivering on promises then they have to be held accountable by the people who elected them. If someone else’s electected official isn’t doing what you want they may be doing what their constituants want – that’s why we all get to elect our own.

This is post, as it stands, is just a list of complaints about one administration. That’s why this country is better than you give it credit for, we get to complain openly. If you think control of the press is bad now you should have been around in the 1950s. I really think this administration would like to have lived in that time. Not so much George, he’s just a puppet, but the cabal who wish to remain anonymous. The problem is we are evolving into a plutocracy. We have not arrived but there are disturbing signs of us heading that way.

“efforts to eliminate taxes on estates of over two million dollars (the first $2 million has been tax free for years) ought to give ordinary citizens pause.”
When I die and leave the family farm to my children they will be responsible for taxes incurred by my untimely death. Not all inheiritance value is liquid. Not all intergenerational wealth accumulation is evil. You would have the very gov’t you decry take my money away from my family and give it to someone else.

“such as the electromagnetic spectrum to media and communications giants”
The companies involved bid for that spectrum and ended up paying billions of dollars – perhaps more than is economically reasonable (a side effect of the bidding process). Perhaps one of the reasons the cost of renting a cell phone hasn’t come down more that it has.

“you know these things yet continue living without political passion is the great enigma”
There is no political passion because people are comfortable and selecting a politician is like deciding between dumb and dumber.

“explaining why poor people will vote Republican”
Beware of labels. If you vote a straight party ticket you are taking the lazy way out. By not considering all candidates you are abdicating your power of choice. Thinking that one party is different than the other is like thinking there is a difference between blacks and whites – everyone is human and subject to the same weaknesses.

“Why weren’t we so appalled that we did not take to the streets to get rid of office holders who represented no one but themselves and their rich friends?”
We take to the polling booths, not the streets. Inciting mob mentality benefits only anarchy, not democracy. Streets are for show, dialog is for results.

Many of your points are spot on, others aren’t worth quibbling about (close but in need of refinement). It will be interesting to see what you offer in the way of solutions.