Dysfunctional government and the act of voting, or not

Dysfunctional means to be "impaired," or to function "abnormally."

The government of the United States might rightly be termed "dysfunctional." Except for a few gruntled Repugnicans, most Americans would agree. Descriptions as to how the U.S. government is impaired and functions abnormally have been reiterated ad nauseum and need not be listed again here.

Unfortunately, this malady is not limited to our national government. Many state governments, country government and city governments, as well as agencies of these governmental entities are dysfunctional.


You've seen the bumper stickers that say "Don't blame me, I voted for Gore!"

A lot of bumper stickers should say, "Blame me, I didn't bother to vote."

The problem of dysfunctional government and thus the blame for dysfunctional government ultimately rests squarely on the shoulders of the citizens of the United States who are eligible to vote.

In the 2000 election, George W. Bush lost the popular vote, and was handed the presidency only because of Republican chicanery and the collusion of right-wing Republican "activist" judges on the U.S. Supreme Court. Nevertheless, enough Americans voted for Bush/Cheney to put them in a position to take the presidency in a cloud of illegitimacy.

There's no excuse in 2004 (except for the stolen votes in Ohio): Too many Americans voted for Bush/Cheney in spite of the fact their first four years in office were an unmitigated disaster for the people of the United States and the nation as a whole.

In both elections, the fault for the Bush/Cheney disaster must also fall on those who couldn't be bothered to drag their sorry asses to a polling place and cast a vote for American values and thereby allowed the Repugnicans to continue to despoil the American dream!


Yesterday was Primary Day here in the state of Florida. In Marion County, Florida, there are 205,719 registers voters. Only 31,290 or 15.3 percent could find the time to cast a ballot!!!

In Florida overall, only 17.4 percent bothered to go to the polls!!!


In other words, the great majority of people in the state of Florida don't give a tinker's damn for their own welfare, the welfare of the state or the welfare of the nation.

And that's why we have had eight years of war, defeat, impoverishment, despair, international derision and a wholesale looting of the government coffers by the rich and powerful.

Oh, it's the fault of Bush and Cheney, all right. But the really important questions are: who the hell voted for these clowns; and who the hell didn't care enough to vote; thus, by default, giving the Bush/Cheney gang permission to shred their way through the Constitution on their road to becoming the worst administration ever, and, in eight years, dragging our country down from world-class status, to what some have deemed, a nation akin to a third-world banana republic?

Class is over.