Why Have Elections?

[Sandokan]

Why Have Elections?
http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2015/09/15/why-have-elections-n2052085

Thomas Sowell | Sep 15, 2015




In a country with more than 300 million people, it is remarkable how obsessed the media have become with just one -- Donald Trump. What is even more remarkable is that, after six years of repeated disasters, both domestically and internationally, under a glib egomaniac in the White House, so many potential voters are turning to another glib egomaniac to be his successor.

No doubt much of the stampede of Republican voters toward Mr. Trump is based on their disgust with the Republican establishment. The fact that the next two biggest vote-getters in the polls are also complete outsiders -- Dr. Ben Carson and Ms. Carly Fiorina -- reinforces the idea that this is a protest.

It is easy to understand why there would be pent-up resentments among Republican voters. But are elections held for the purpose of venting emotions?

No national leader ever aroused more fervent emotions than Adolf Hitler did in the 1930s. Watch some old newsreels of German crowds delirious with joy at the sight of him. The only things at all comparable in more recent times were the ecstatic crowds that greeted Barack Obama when he burst upon the political scene in 2008.

Elections, however, have far more lasting, and far more serious -- or even grim -- consequences than emotional venting. The actual track record of crowd-pleasers, whether Juan Peron in Argentina, Obama in America or Hitler in Germany, is very sobering, if not painfully depressing.

The media seem to think that participation in elections is a big deal. But turnout often approaches 100 percent in countries so torn by bitter polarization that everyone is scared to death of what will happen if the other side wins. But times and places with low voter turnout are often times and places when there are no such fears aroused by having an opposing party win.
Click link above for full article.

No question Trump is a good talker but we need to look at his record, not his rhetoric. He has been on both sides of many issues many times, among them donating to the Clintons, supported Kelo decision by the Supreme Court to transfer land from one private owner to another private owner to further economic development, opposed the war in Iraq, supported single-payer health care and propose “health marts”, sort off Obamacare exchanges.

For the last 20 years he has been a Republican, an Independent and a Democrat. Now, he is register as an independent but running as a presidential candidate for the Republican Party. We don’t know his political positions, they keep changing all the time. The next election is too important to take a chance on such a character.
.

 

[dimensionallava]

the order is apparently going to be trump, then carson, then fiorina, then one of the mexicans, then they will think about telling you who the real nominee is, but they have to fill your head with pointless knowledge about a half dozen or so people before they bring out the real candidate who might believe he wears magic underpants, or something like that, but you'll be too weary from all the other bullcrap they pumped in your ahead about the first six guys..... your not going to care if the real candidate eats orhpan meat for breakfast

 

[joG]

It is surprising how true the article you chose rings true.

 

[dimensionallava]

It is surprising how true the article you chose rings true.

yes it is a great article its very true how these last 7 years under obama have been like living under hitler in germany:roll:

 

[rhinefire]

Funny how idiots seem to arise to fill the thrones left by fools.

 

[haymarket]

Powell may have some skill in writing but he makes some highly questionable statements about history.

It is easy to understand why there would be pent-up resentments among Republican voters. But are elections held for the purpose of venting emotions?

No national leader ever aroused more fervent emotions than Adolf Hitler did in the 1930s. Watch some old newsreels of German crowds delirious with joy at the sight of him. The only things at all comparable in more recent times were the ecstatic crowds that greeted Barack Obama when he burst upon the political scene in 2008.

1933 Election in Germany

Hitler and his political party were a minority party.

Although Adolf Hitler had the support of certain sections of the German population he never gained an elected majority. The best the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) could do in a election was 37.3 per cent of the vote they gained in July 1932. When Hitler became chancellor in January 1933, the Nazis only had a third of the seats in the Reichstag.

Then we had the infamous Reichstag fire and other events designed to raise Hitler and decease support for others.

Left-wing election meetings were broken up by the Sturm Abteilung (SA) and several candidates were murdered. Newspapers that supported these political parties were closed down during the 1933 General Election.

Although it was extremely difficult for the opposition parties to campaign properly, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party still failed to win an overall victory in the election on 5th March, 1933. The NSDAP received 43.9% of the vote and only 288 seats out of the available 647. The increase in the Nazi vote had mainly come from the Catholic rural areas who feared the possibility of an atheistic Communist government.

Sowell is careful to use terms that provide cover for him using vague terms like "fervent emotions" and "ecstatic crowds" - which ocular really be used to describe hundreds of political candidate rallies over a very long period of time - but it seems that he is desribing events which came later - after Hitler and the Nazi's took power and elections were no longer necessary to keep them in power. The rallies that we have seen like the one in Nuremberg in TRIUMPH OF THE WILL came much later - 1935 to be exact - long after the elections. .

In 1968 I was a protester inside Cobo Hall in Detroit in a Wallace for President rally and that emotion and fervor matched anything I have ever been in.

In any case, the comparison in a column with Trump is not at all applicable.

 

[QuadpolarNutjob]

career politicians have failed America.

TRUMP 2016

 

[joG]

yes it is a great article its very true how these last 7 years under obama have been like living under hitler in germany:roll:

I do not think that it is quite what Hitler'S Germany was like, but destroying citizens' existence for religious reasons is trying hard to break the differences down.

 

[Kobie]

Good lord, Thomas Sowell is awful.

 

[Greenbeard]

Ah, the old "I don't like the guy leading in the polls so now my feelings about elections have soured!"

 

[Sandokan]

There is a very good field of candidates running for the presidential nomination of the Republican Party. It is important to put aside the anger at the establishment, and listen to what the candidates are actually saying, in order to not repeat the mistakes of the last two presidential campaigns. If we want to keep our freedom it is necessary to think clearly and avoid another mistake.

 

[dimensionallava]

There is a very good field of candidates running for the presidential nomination of the Republican Party. It is important to put aside the anger at the establishment, and listen to what the candidates are actually saying, in order to not repeat the mistakes of the last two presidential campaigns. If we want to keep our freedom it is necessary to think clearly and avoid another mistake.

other than koch bros economics, telling people not to have sex, and making racist comments what are they saying?

I prefer our current system of voting for the republican with funniest haircut

 

[ballantine]

There is a very good field of candidates running for the presidential nomination of the Republican Party.

No, there isn't. Bunch of establishment flunkies. There's not a brain cell in the whole lot.

It is important to put aside the anger at the establishment,

No. It's important to get mad as hell at the abuse and corruption these idiots are foisting on us.

and listen to what the candidates are actually saying,

No. Tune them out, no one needs a pile of Orwellian doublespeak.

in order to not repeat the mistakes of the last two presidential campaigns.

ROFLMAO! As if the ones before that were any different.

If we want to keep our freedom it is necessary to think clearly and avoid another mistake.

Too late.

 

[MisterLogical]

[FONT=&]No question Trump is a good talker but we need to look at his record, not his rhetoric. He has been on both sides of many issues many times, among them donating to the Clintons, supported Kelo decision by the Supreme Court to transfer land from one private owner to another private owner to further economic development, opposed the war in Iraq, supported single-payer health care and propose “health marts”, sort off Obamacare exchanges.

[/FONT][FONT=&] [FONT=&]For the last 20 years he has been a Republican, an Independent and a Democrat. Now, he is register as an independent but running as a presidential candidate for the Republican Party. We don’t know his political positions, they keep changing all the time. The next election is too important to take a chance on such a character. [/FONT]
.[/FONT]

Well Obama got elected through talking bull**** his whole reign. So you know I dont think auctual substance matters anymore.

 

[Sandokan]

Well Obama got elected through talking bull**** his whole reign. So you know I dont think auctual substance matters anymore.

You are right on target. Many folks follow Trump because of his leader role on a “reality” TV show. They don’t realize the show is scripted. He is a celebrity because we live in a celebrity-driven culture. Trump is a narcissist that had said all kinds of things, many of which contradict one another. His supporters are behaving very much like Obama's supporters did when he was running.

 

[TheDemSocialist]

You are right on target. Many folks follow Trump because of his leader role on a “reality” TV show. They don’t realize the show is scripted. He is a celebrity because we live in a celebrity-driven culture. Trump is a narcissist that had said all kinds of things, many of which contradict one another. His supporters are behaving very much like Obama's supporters did when he was running.

1.)Recommendation on the GOP to vote for?
2.)Yea **** Obama!

 

[Mycroft]

No question Trump is a good talker but we need to look at his record, not his rhetoric. He has been on both sides of many issues many times, among them donating to the Clintons, supported Kelo decision by the Supreme Court to transfer land from one private owner to another private owner to further economic development, opposed the war in Iraq, supported single-payer health care and propose “health marts”, sort off Obamacare exchanges.

For the last 20 years he has been a Republican, an Independent and a Democrat. Now, he is register as an independent but running as a presidential candidate for the Republican Party. We don’t know his political positions, they keep changing all the time. The next election is too important to take a chance on such a character.
.

Sowell's rant has one big, glaring inaccuracy: He says the voters are disgusted with the Republican establishment. That is true, but it's only part of the story. The voters are disgusted with ALL establishment politicians.

The biggest problem for the country isn't whether Trump is the Republican nominee or not. Heck, I'll go on record and predict he WILL be the Republican nominee. No, the biggest problem is that he is going to siphon voters who have been hoodwinked by Obama away from whomever the Democrats put up. Things are going to be very grim for establishment politicians on both sides.

All is not lost for those establishment politicians, though. When Trump is President, I predict he won't have a very cooperative Congress...not even Congressmen from his own Party. But give him 2 years in Office and a lot of those Congressmen will be looking for new jobs.

He is a big threat to establishment politicians of all stripes and that's why he has so much resistance from Republicans and Democrats alike. But, that's also why he has so much support from the voters.

Back to Sowell...he is in the Republican establishment's pocket. I'm not surprised he would spin his rhetoric against Trump.

 

[MisterLogical]

You are right on target. Many folks follow Trump because of his leader role on a “reality” TV show. They don’t realize the show is scripted. He is a celebrity because we live in a celebrity-driven culture. Trump is a narcissist that had said all kinds of things, many of which contradict one another. His supporters are behaving very much like Obama's supporters did when he was running.

Oh thats where he from? I didnt know that. I thought he was just another person. So now we have crazy loyal sheeple supporting a republican instead of a democrat? Ha, Politics are funny arnt they? On the plus side, if Trump wins that means every conservative gets to treat every democrat like garbage for not voting for Trump, and I am going to love that considering how terrible I was treated during the 2008 election. Means that the shoe will be on the foot and we now have the right to be assholes!

 

[Sandokan]

There are among the many Republican candidates, some that can as President, make the hard decisions and take the hard steps required to undo the disaster that threaten ahead, a result of Obama’s ineffective foreign and domestic policies. The winner of the Presidency in 2016 will inherit a chaotic state of affairs domestically and internationally. I believe some of the candidates have the intellect, wisdom, temperament, courage and personal appeal to handle those problems.