Give a list of candidates for the Presidency and vote. It's very simple. But we have bias here: friends, Old boy network, gooooood Lawyers, gerrymandering, all sorts of manipulations. Truth is: it does not matter who you vote for the Government always gets in. In Britain we have the first past the post system, electoral seats = winner. Even if the total national vote was overwhemingly against that result. It IS strange how a minority vote can lead to the power.

yeah....i want on that action too! i'll even give you better odds.....say less than 30 out of the first 50....

i'd go with the under on 7 of 10 exiting the polls at a presidential election....

I have a prediction that either Hillary or Obama get the vote to lead the democrats against Guiliani. Hilary might just get there. Vote on...

Can't win the primary. Social conservatives won't matter much in the general, but they own the Republic primary process.

I didn't say that the masses are stupid. I said that only a minority of voters actually vote. I guess the majority does vote, by abdication.

That is what I meant to start the conversation with.

sorry joe, I wasn't responding directly to what you said, just comment on the general tenor of conversations about politics that begin by lamenting how few people do "the right thing" when it comes to casting their vote.

But, but, but, I'm sure everyone that doesn't vote the way I do, is a moron that's not paying attention, or has an evil, subversive agenda.

And thus, must be protected from their own ignorance by me and my wise friends making their most important choices for them. It's in their best interest!

Well according to one source in the 2000 election

So technically a majority of the population did vote. But I think we can all agree that more than 51% are bitching about the result.

The masses aren't stupid, but they are inundated with stupidity from the mass media. It isn't just the Brittany Spears news that's distracting them, it's also the rest of the media, including network news, news magazines like Newsweek and Time, and most newspapers. Unfortunately, the media think that negative whiny news sells. Maybe it does, but it doesn't mean positive stories about America or Americans belong on page 23, while minor scandals belong on the front page, so to speak, above the fold.

I've been recently thinking that the American people are much more informed than many think, just that we are too cyncial to show it.

If what is in the mass media didn't make a profit, it would not sell. The masses control what is printed or put on the tv, and other places in the mass media market with their dollars. It's not the "media" fault It's our own.

I partly disagree. I believe there are three forces which dictate what will be on the news.

First, what you pointed out, the natural market.

Second, the media's agenda. There is a clear difference between the agenda's of CNN and FOXNEWS so we can't say that the media's agenda does not play a role in this. The American people do have a major role in it, but the media companies are to blame as well.

Third, the government has to some filitering system. I am not talking about conspiracy theories here but there has to be some single source where all the media gets there information from and to think that the government doesn't filter or alter some infromation is very tough to believe since they have their own agenda as well.

Pssst pierce - everyone has an agenda, Thats the grand conspiracy. Selfishness. Everyone is doing what makes them the most money or gives them the most power. There are VERY FEW who are not. I'd bet none of them are in Gov't or the media.

classic, there are many public servants in the employ of the Government who are incredibly selfless. They aren't doing what they do for the money.