8 ms·

Disturbing but not surprising. If you're a US citizen and outraged enough to spend a few minutes posting a comment here, why not write your local representative

Disturbing but not surprising. If you're a US citizen and outraged enough to spend a few minutes posting a comment here, why not write your local representative and express your feelings to them.

discardorama 13y ago
My senator is Feinstein. She probably lights cigars with the complaints of Gitmo detainees.
- davidw 13y ago
  They pay attention when people call them up. A whole hell of a lot more attention than they pay to HN, in any event.
  - xradionut 13y ago
    Wrong, they pay attention when people pay them or threaten their pay.
    - davidw 13y ago
      If enough people vote against them, that pretty much cuts them out of the picture. I know, actually picking up the phone and making a call is much more difficult than making snarky, cynical comments on HN, but it's more likely to accomplish something. If you care enough, you could even get out there and do something like work on the campaign of a primary challenger, or donate money to Amnesty, or anything else out there in the real world that requires time/money/effort.
      - sobkas 13y ago
        >If enough people vote against them, that pretty much cuts them out of the picture. No, they will become the lobbyists, consultants etc. There are so many openings for former congresspersons that they don't need to fear unemployment. So it's not like there is a strong fear of being voted out, if you can grab even better paid job(for most, not fore all).
      - betterunix 13y ago
        "If enough people vote against them, that pretty much cuts them out of the picture." They are pretty comfortable with the idea that most people do not care about these issues. Civil rights are a side show for the majority of voters.
- david927 13y ago
  They're all that bad. We have to remember that voting isn't democracy. Unless there are true alternatives, having the freedom to choose between Pepsi or Coke is no freedom at all. The system has been gamed; it's fundamentally broken. I believe that we need to have some form of direct democracy, such as allowing the public to vote directly on any bill, and if more than 25% vote in any district, their choice overrides their representatives. Don't tell me it's a technical issue -- that's cowardice. We can do this. If you were CEO of a company, you wouldn't throw up your hands in impotence as your employees ran the company into the ground. It's our country. We're in charge. No more whining. We can do this.
  - kevinpet 13y ago
    They aren't all as bad as Feinstein. California liberals should stop with the "but we must reelect her, because otherwise someone who isn't connected to the San Francisco political machine might get elected". I'll take Boxer, Reid or even Bernie Sanders over Feinstein any day, and I'm not a liberal. Your ideas are naive and it's clear you don't understand the purpose of representative democracy. Please don't confuse one of the worst representatives with "the system is entirely broken and should be replaced with this untested system".
  - lifeformed 13y ago
    The systems already set up to be resistant to change. There are a lot of better systems we can all think of, but there's no way to make them happen anymore. You need to consent of the people you're fighting against to put them out of power.
  - Ygg2 13y ago
    I hate to sound condescending, but what are experiences with direct democracy? I recall someone mentioning that masses would make rather bad popular decisions with bad consequences that were hard to guess. It might be true or false. Maybe masses still did better than politicians. If you ask me, I think politics should be automated in some way. AI for that probably doesn't exist yet, but hey if they can replace surgeons, why not politicians?
    - 13y ago
xradionut 13y ago
Your naivety and optimism is cute. Reality is that no brunch of the current government gives a shit. The US isn't a democratic republic anymore.
- Karunamon 13y ago
  Your pessimism and apathy is both disheartening and infuriating. Make enough of a stink, and people listen. That is one of the few immutable laws of politics. If you are not getting the desired results, you're not making enough of a stink yet.
  - Nanzikambe 13y ago
    - 36 million people across the globe march in protest, Iraq: still invaded. (Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_Iraq_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_Iraq_War) - Millions protest regularly, Guantanamo: still open (Couldn't be bothered to source exact numbers, but here're some pictures: https://www.google.com/search?q=Protests+Guantanamo&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=vcJvUtfRNuHF7AbLmIG4Cg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1208&bih=865&dpr=1 https://www.google.com/search?q=Protests+Guantanamo&source=l...) - Ditto patriot act, status: passed Exactly how much of a stink did you have in mind? Perhaps people setting themselves on fire en mass? Getting run over by tanks?
    - davidw 13y ago
      Boo hoo - protests were had, and it did not change things. So you keep working and keep trying, it's not like you get to just show up at a protest and everything magically gets better. It takes money, time, and hard work.
      - CamperBob2 13y ago
        Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result is the definition of "protest."
        13y ago
Nanzikambe 13y ago
At some point someone should build a complete list of all the things that US citizens should be writing their representatives about. My impression is that is one damned big list.
- grecy 13y ago
  That's no reason not to do it. Things only get better through hard work.

Disturbing but not surprising. If you're a US citizen and outraged enough to spend a few minutes posting a comment here, why not write your local representative and express your feelings to them.

discardorama 13y ago

My senator is Feinstein. She probably lights cigars with the complaints of Gitmo detainees.

davidw 13y ago
They pay attention when people call them up. A whole hell of a lot more attention than they pay to HN, in any event.
- xradionut 13y ago
  Wrong, they pay attention when people pay them or threaten their pay.
  - davidw 13y ago
    If enough people vote against them, that pretty much cuts them out of the picture. I know, actually picking up the phone and making a call is much more difficult than making snarky, cynical comments on HN, but it's more likely to accomplish something. If you care enough, you could even get out there and do something like work on the campaign of a primary challenger, or donate money to Amnesty, or anything else out there in the real world that requires time/money/effort.
    - sobkas 13y ago
      >If enough people vote against them, that pretty much cuts them out of the picture. No, they will become the lobbyists, consultants etc. There are so many openings for former congresspersons that they don't need to fear unemployment. So it's not like there is a strong fear of being voted out, if you can grab even better paid job(for most, not fore all).
    - betterunix 13y ago
      "If enough people vote against them, that pretty much cuts them out of the picture." They are pretty comfortable with the idea that most people do not care about these issues. Civil rights are a side show for the majority of voters.
david927 13y ago
They're all that bad. We have to remember that voting isn't democracy. Unless there are true alternatives, having the freedom to choose between Pepsi or Coke is no freedom at all. The system has been gamed; it's fundamentally broken. I believe that we need to have some form of direct democracy, such as allowing the public to vote directly on any bill, and if more than 25% vote in any district, their choice overrides their representatives. Don't tell me it's a technical issue -- that's cowardice. We can do this. If you were CEO of a company, you wouldn't throw up your hands in impotence as your employees ran the company into the ground. It's our country. We're in charge. No more whining. We can do this.
- kevinpet 13y ago
  They aren't all as bad as Feinstein. California liberals should stop with the "but we must reelect her, because otherwise someone who isn't connected to the San Francisco political machine might get elected". I'll take Boxer, Reid or even Bernie Sanders over Feinstein any day, and I'm not a liberal. Your ideas are naive and it's clear you don't understand the purpose of representative democracy. Please don't confuse one of the worst representatives with "the system is entirely broken and should be replaced with this untested system".
- lifeformed 13y ago
  The systems already set up to be resistant to change. There are a lot of better systems we can all think of, but there's no way to make them happen anymore. You need to consent of the people you're fighting against to put them out of power.
- Ygg2 13y ago
  I hate to sound condescending, but what are experiences with direct democracy? I recall someone mentioning that masses would make rather bad popular decisions with bad consequences that were hard to guess. It might be true or false. Maybe masses still did better than politicians. If you ask me, I think politics should be automated in some way. AI for that probably doesn't exist yet, but hey if they can replace surgeons, why not politicians?
  - 13y ago

xradionut 13y ago

Your naivety and optimism is cute. Reality is that no brunch of the current government gives a shit. The US isn't a democratic republic anymore.

Karunamon 13y ago
Your pessimism and apathy is both disheartening and infuriating. Make enough of a stink, and people listen. That is one of the few immutable laws of politics. If you are not getting the desired results, you're not making enough of a stink yet.
- Nanzikambe 13y ago
  - 36 million people across the globe march in protest, Iraq: still invaded. (Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_Iraq_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_Iraq_War) - Millions protest regularly, Guantanamo: still open (Couldn't be bothered to source exact numbers, but here're some pictures: https://www.google.com/search?q=Protests+Guantanamo&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=vcJvUtfRNuHF7AbLmIG4Cg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1208&bih=865&dpr=1 https://www.google.com/search?q=Protests+Guantanamo&source=l...) - Ditto patriot act, status: passed Exactly how much of a stink did you have in mind? Perhaps people setting themselves on fire en mass? Getting run over by tanks?
  - davidw 13y ago
    Boo hoo - protests were had, and it did not change things. So you keep working and keep trying, it's not like you get to just show up at a protest and everything magically gets better. It takes money, time, and hard work.
    - CamperBob2 13y ago
      Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result is the definition of "protest."
      - 13y ago

Nanzikambe 13y ago

At some point someone should build a complete list of all the things that US citizens should be writing their representatives about. My impression is that is one damned big list.

grecy 13y ago
That's no reason not to do it. Things only get better through hard work.