From the article Amos posted: "what the hell is wrong with these people? (the politicians who make up the USA Senate) Who are they, really? Why do we give them power?"

Okay. One thing at a time.

1. "Who are they, really?"

They are political insiders...long time friends, servants, and fully-fledged members of the rich and powerful ruling elite. They are those who cooperate with that elite and enable it to enrich itself further...and that is why you heard about them in the first place in your controlled mass media and that is why they got enough monetary and political backing to get elected to the Senate.

2. "Why do we give them power?"

HA!!! You don't give them power. The $ySStem that puts them in front of you by way of the mass media gives them power. The $ySStem puts basically 2 of them in front of you in each Senatorial district. One is a Democrat and the other is a Republican. You (the voter) are the poor dumb domesticated animal who arrives at the voting trough where he or she finds 2 varieties of dinner being served...wretched Democratic slop and wretched Republican slop. Those are the only those 2 choices on the menu, realistically speaking, because the powers that be have paid for that to happen. The famished domesticated animal has then a choice. He can eat Democratic slop, in which case he elects the $ySStem's Democratic candidate to the Senate...or he can eat Republican slop, in which case he elects the $ySStem's Republican candidate to the Senate.

In both case he has eaten worthless slop, and the $ySStem has its way.

There are a couple more choices too. He can refuse to vote at all, in which case he has registered a passive protest, but that won't trouble the $ySStem one iota, because some people will still vote. Or...he can vote for some independent or minor party candidate...but with little or no hope of that vote knocking off the $ySStem's BIG 2 Duopoly candidates.

The voters do NOT give these servants of the ruling class power, the mass media and the lobbyists who put up most of a candidate's campaign funds and get them media coverage give them power. Your vote is just a rubber stamp on a done deal, and the deal was not made with you in mind.

3. "What the hell is wrong with these people?"

They sold out, that's what's wrong with them. They are creatures of a ruling system that is in fact a shadow government that controls both major parties ALL the time. They sold out a long time ago to a consortium of powerful interests (banks, corporations, and the military industrial complex which serves banks and corporations). They do not serve you, they cannot serve you, because their power did not derive from you, it derives from the SySStem that funds them...and that WILL destroy them if they don't serve it faithfully.

They are offered great rewards if they faithfully serve the $ySStem, and they are offered failure... or something considerably worse than that... if they don't.

You don't live in a true democracy. Neither do I. We live in an empty charade of a democracy, and it's about as phony as one of those western sets in the old Hollywood "B" films of the 40's and 50's. It looks real from the front....there's nothing behind it but an empty desert.

Your elections are a show that is put on for 2 purposes:

1. to divide and conquer the public by setting you against one another over partisan differences.

2. to keep you hypnotized into thinking you still have a genuinely functioning democratic system.

It's very much ths same situation in Canada as in the USA, though not as extreme, because we have a less extreme tradition and history behind us.

It's very much the same situation in the UK.

It's laughable that our nations would dare to attempt to spread "democracy" around the world, because we don't even have a real democracy at home! We have a ruling financially-based oligarchy that is untouchable through the voting process.

What do I recommend? ;-) I recommend that each one of you live the best, kindest, most honest and creative and loving life you possibly can while you're here...and don't waste too much of your energy imagining that your corrupt government is going to live up to its promises...because it isn't. And don't waste your energy hating each other over old partisan political differences either...because that will get you nowhere, and it will only strengthen the oppressive powers that rule the present $ySStem.

All political systems pass away in time. This one will too. But probably quite some time after you and I have departed this interesting mortal scene we are presently engaged in here.

But.......... if fighing the old partisan political battles turns you on and you still believe in it...? Well, fine. Do that if that's what moves you. It's entirely up to you, after all, because it's your energy you're freely choosing to spend, right? And that's your business.