Just looking at the political climate in the US these days, people like me on the outside are wondering what the hell's in the water there and when is the insanity going to stop?
*cough* ROB FORD *cough* :mrgreen:
1. Two Presidential candidates that everyone seems to pretty much hate and nobody wants as President.
Yes, no other nation on earth dislikes their choices for elected officials.
Plenty of buffoons around the world get elected to the top executive position. Berlusconi, Chavez, Morales (Evo
and Jimmy), etc. So it goes.
2. A Supreme Court that is totally dysfunctional, unable to honor their oaths of office because too many believe they have a higher obligation to ideology and thus all votes are deadlocked and nothing is settled.
The Supreme Court is, for the most part, doing its job. Most of the current justices are not driven by ideology at all, they're driven by their ideas about jurisprudence and the nature of constitutional law.
It's Congress that is falling down on the job, not appointing the 9th justice. Even given that constraint, the SCOTUS is still operating properly, such as indirectly affirming that assault rifles can be banned, or directly sanctioning certain types of affirmative action as valid.
3. An obsession with guns and gun violence that never ceases and each side on the political spectrum use the issue to pander to their followers with nothing gained.
Yes, the American love of firearms is definitely messed up.
4. An adolescent Congress where grown men and women sit on the floor in a hissy fit because they lack the power to force others to their will on an issue where there is no consensus in the general public for any particular action.
Yep, that's a problem. My guess is that the American public is too closely split to make up its mind about what to do.
Meanwhile, legislatures around the world can be pretty wacky as well.
To my friends in America, aren't you a little embarrassed by what is happening in your great country??
When was American great, exactly?
Was it when we had millions of slaves?
Was it when we institutionalized racism?
How about when we outlawed alcohol? Bombed the snot out of a small Southeast Asian nation, and still failed to control it? Elected a former actor to the Presidency? Threatened to impeach another one, because he wanted to get his Johnson wet with an intern?
Oh, I know! It's when we refused to offer a single payer health care system, like pretty much every other advanced and developing nation on the planet.
Anyway... Everyone looks weird from the other side of the fence, yes?