While it is somewhat irksome to me that all the times I've said that put together haven't caused half the stir that Gov. Ventura did, I nonetheless have to admire the incredibly rare bit of honesty from a politician. I also have to look upon the majority of my countrymen, (in a poll taken nationwide, 68% of respondents said Ventura should be kicked out of office for expressing his opinion) with utter disgust.
He's also said that prostitution and drug use should be decriminalized, and that drug users should be rehabilitated, not simply incarcerated in drug-filled correctional facilities, as is the current practice in this country.
Where are those people who always say they're tired of lying politicians?
Where are those people who are always screaming for an honest candidate,
someone not afraid to put the baby down and tell you what he really thinks?
Here you are America, a flamboyant, charismatic politician who isn't afraid
to be perfectly honest about what he thinks? Isn't this what you wanted?
73% of Americans say they want a President who's character is stronger than Clinton's, 57% say that the President should be completely honest with the people. The current polls leader, George W. Bush, after putting out several stories with regards to his alleged cocaine use, has finally declared that he will not comment on sins he "may or may not have committed in the past." As Garry Trudeau says, "It's almost an homage (to Clinton)"
By my (not at all accurate) calculations, mathematically speaking, at least 37% of the voting populace of this country are inveterate liars. While the USA is technically a Republic, it is, in theory at least, a representative democracy. As the old saying goes, in a democracy, the people get the kind of government they truly deserve.
The purpose of the American political system is to keep the Government and the people as far removed from each other as possible. The people have little say in the running of the government, and the government largely keeps itself out of people's day-to-day lives. Politics is in a state of transition, it is realizing that while people express high ideals and opinions, that's really all they like to do. Once they've had their say, (however uninformed and utterly mindless that say may be, e.g. Pat Buchanan) they lose interest quickly.
Two-party politics isn't government, it's a sporting event, like the super bowl, complete with hilarious commercials. Most people pick a team and root for them, other people aren't interested, and change the channel. People begin to think that there are two ways you can think, along one party's line, or the other's, and that anyone who has another view is a wacko on the fringe.
Religion just wasn't working anymore, there's too much self-denial and martyrhood to appeal to the average American. Oh they still call themselves Christians, many even give up their Sunday mornings in the Anglicized name of their favorite long-dead Jew-on-a-stick, but it just doesn't have the hold over us that it used to. The body politic has built up an immunity of indulgence to the old drug, the new one's much more interesting and important.
Just don't get REALLY honest, damned if we want to have to think too hard.