Posted on 04/17/2016 4:34:27 AM PDT by Kaslin
You hear it all the time: “The system is rigged.” On so many issues, people wrap themselves in this abdication of individual responsibility to insulate themselves from the negative consequences of their decisions and actions. Still others use it to empower themselves, acting as political Pope and absolving others of their mistakes.
Context matters. In some cases, the system is rigged. In others, the system itself is doing the rigging.
Nowhere has the “the system is rigged” theme been more commonly used than in the political world.
Donald Trump cries it every time he loses, every time he realizes he’s been outsmarted, every time it’s clear he’s in over his head and didn’t hire competent people who understand, or even read, clearly stated rules. But his refrain is hollow and damaging only to those to whom he’s lying.
The more nefarious usage of the phrase comes from the recipient of Trump’s political donations – Hillary Clinton.
When a politician, particularly the standard bearer of a major political party, complains “the system is rigged” against people getting ahead, it’s the same as telling them they should quit. It saps those susceptible to such things of their ambition, their drive.
When you say this to people who, because of skin color, sexuality, economic status or whatever, already may be receptive to the idea, it resonates – maybe not that day, but someday. When something doesn’t go their way, the way something doesn’t go people’s way all the time, they now have an excuse.
The next time they fail to get a job or lose one, regardless of the circumstances, they can come more quickly to the “realization” the system is rigged against them and they can’t succeed no matter what.
Some people will quit, wait for some politician to “unrig” the system and become and remain loyal to that person and party who vows to “protect” them. It’s worked out swimmingly for the black community, hasn’t it? Now Democrats want to work their same magic to “help” Hispanics.
The vote is more important than lives to progressives. It’s power über alles.
Hillary claims the system is rigged? She rose from a middle-class family to marry a man from a poor family and then become one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in the world. Her story, like that of President Obama and so many other progressives, embodies the American Dream.
Why not just rely on that story, which would do a lot of good? Because it doesn’t give enough credit to government for her success.
“The system is rigged” absolves everyone of the responsibility of their mistakes. You went to prison not because you were doing something illegal, but because the system was rigged. You can’t afford rent not because you wasted your money on other things, but because the system is rigged. You have a crummy job not because you smoked a lot of weed in high school rather than studying, but because the system is rigged. The possibilities are endless, the blame – and the results – are the same.
If Hillary wants to talk about rigged systems, she knows all about one that truly is rigged – the Democratic Party’s nominating system.
She can’t win her party’s nomination without unelected party elites pushing her over the top, which her campaign acknowledged this week. Further, Tuesday’s primary in New York already is a victory for her before the first vote is counted. Unless Bernie Sanders, a fellow traveller in the “the system is rigged” brigade, beats her in a landslide, she will leave the state with significantly more delegates.
Yes, some systems are rigged. But not the ones most progressives would have you believe. The economy is not rigged. How delegates are won or lost may be, but everyone knows the rules.
No, the real rigging in most people’s lives is the lie that someone other than the individual is responsible for the state of our lives.
Looking externally for redemption, fulfillment, or making anything great again is the individual rigging the system against themselves. So maybe all the systems are rigged after all.
“The press is far less powerful than it used to be. We used to believe Walter Cronkite was God, or at least one of his messengers.
Now we have all kinds of news stations, plus we have a strong grass roots press in the social media that we never had before.”
True and true.
By the way, people on the left have their electronic networking too.
But I think the main-stream media is still powerful. They may not have the power to knock off conservative candidates in the primaries the way they used to. (I’m thinking Hermain Cain). But they may be able to knock off a conservative candidate in the general election. I hope I’m mistaken.
One economist tried to measure the bias and power of the press. With a balanced press, he estimated that liberal states (say Massachusetts) would vote like Tennessee, and moderate states would vote like Texas. We would have a different country.
Aside from elections, the power of the media (press, TV, and movies) remains great. I think many Americans have many false beliefs and remain ignorant of many important truths due to the media.
The system has rules. Some people bother to figure them out, some people don’t. The ones who don’t always whine the system is rigged.
I apologize and promise to be a serious FReeper about the issues at hand.
Maybe you’d prefer watching Ted collect delegates from his voterless wins?
http://www.drbongo.com/play/vbA
You needed to tell me of that GA convention. You and FreedomPoster are my information sources.
I'm afraid I don't understand exactly what you're trying to say. At any rate, it doesn't appear to address my question. So, I'll ask it again...
If Darryl Glenn could successfully "beat the system" in Colorado, why couldn't Donald Trump?
Trump supporters keep saying on one hand that we shouldn’t expect Trump to know all the rules about the way delegates are selected because “he’s not a politician”; and on the other hand, they say we should support Trump because he is a really great businessman, who hires really great people, and he has been really successful in completing very complex projects, so he will be able to fix our very complex government...
Trying to follow Trumper “logic” has been quite a feat
OK, I get it. You’re another innumerate cruzombie.
Have a nice day.
I think both men have flaws and high points. I think both are too damaged to mount an effective campaign in Nov. I do support Cruz but will probably vote for whomever the nominee is as we cannot afford Clinton.
The difference between the Trumpers and non Trumpers is non Trumpers think outside the echo chamber. We understand it’s going to be difficult for any GOP candidate in the general and they could lose. Trumpers, OTOH, believe a 50 state landslide awaits. And when every poll shows otherwise, it’s viewed as some kind of conspiracy to stop Trump. Trumpers assume the country sees Trump the same way they do. After all, because they love Trump, so does the rest of the country which is false. Trump could win. But not with whining and Twitter Wars against anyone who questions him.
I was wondering why your posts had an overly emotional tone but then I reminded myself who your supporting...lol
Trump is aware of this, BTW.
Inside the bubble, his supporters believe this is a good strategy. To everyone else outside their bubble, it brings into question his abilities and temperament
Years ago I used to be in civil service working for the Air force and Marine Corps. I ended up at the Marine corps base in Albany Georgia as Admin Officer in the Material division and learned many crooked schemes that everyone went to “go along to get along” was.
Believe me, I’m no fool when it comes to corruption in the government...I cut my teeth there.
I used to be in the procurement division also and I could tell you some stories about that. I finally had my fill of governmental politics, quit in 1979 and formed the business I have to this day.
In 2012 the CO primary was a non-binding beauty contest that meant nothing. That is why they did away with the misleading charade in 2015. Would you rather that they kept the charade?
Bottom line: There has to be a process. Whatever the process is, those who educate themselves to know the process... and to show up ... they control the outcome.
We need to change the behavior of the establishment. But we also need to change our own behavior. Too many of us dont educate ourselves as witness the ignorance expressed on FR. And too many of us dont show up.
“This is different than claiming an obviously rigged system is completely fair, as happened in CO and WY.”
If the rules are known and not against accepted law, the system is not “rigged.” Don’t sit in a poker game without knowing how to play and then expect to have whining entertained when you lose.
The CO GOP cut-sheet says the intention in August was to field unbound delegates all the way to the convention. The RNC stepped in and said it was mandatory for the state parties to bind delegates, even if that resulted in binding to candidates who dropped out.
-- Bottom line: There has to be a process. Whatever the process is, those who educate themselves to know the process... and to show up ... they control the outcome. --
The question of control is an interesting one, and it may or may not relate to "showing up" or "being educated." It is possible to be educated and to show up at a rigged contest. Trump's claim is that he didn't show up in either Colorado or Wyoming because the process for winning there is to buy off the bosses. I am positive that some, but not all of the bosses can be "bought off," assuming that the promised governing principles don't deviate too far from what the bosses promote in order to hold on to their power.
If the system was honest, this country would not have deviated as far as it has from the constitution. I don't think spreading the vote around is a solution either - but it sure works great as a cudgel against the corrupt government we have now.
Being an Okie I know you are not that dense. If you play Roulette everyone has an equal chance unless there is a little magnet in the wheel that the wheelman can flip on and off. The GOPe has lots of little magnets.
That's not the right date. The "takeover" by elites was pretty well in place by 1920, and it was known then that a "pretend fight" (opposing parties) is a necessary part of keeping the public entertained and engaged. The assassinations and assassination attempts are part of how the powerful have always operated. Governments make organized crime syndicates look like pikers. That was true before the constitution was subverted.
If that's so, then why could insurgent Senate candidate Darryl Glenn manage to prevail...but Donald Trump could not?
Do the "magnets" only work on New Yorkers, real estate magnates, presidenntial candidates, what...???
Trump will need those Cruz voters if he's going to beat Hillary's corrupt machine in November. I don't expect most of them to stay home, but if trolls who support or pretend to support Trump offend them enough, they might vote third party or skip voting for president and just vote in the down-ballot races. Please lighten up and stick to issues. [Oh, right, Cruz and Trump agree far more than 80% of the time, so there is not much to attack in terms of issues.]
I attack Jeb Bush for his "act of love" statement, in context, and with reputable links to show that is his consistent position, but I don't attack him for his looks. I attack John Kasich for his positions on Amnesty, Obamacare, gun control, and gay rights, and again, I do it with facts to show the positions I attribute to him are his consistent positions.
My attacks on Jeb, Kasich, Hillary, and Bernie are different in kind from the personal attacks on Trump and on Cruz that I am making an effort to condemn. This is FR, not DU or Kos. We're supposed to be better and more thoughtful than "fat Dracula".
Do you object to Cruz for his views on Abortion?
http://www.ontheissues.org/Ted_Cruz.htm
- Planned Parenthood sells body parts of unborn human beings. (Sep 2015)
- Allow vote to end Planned Parenthood's funding. (Aug 2015)
- Prosecute Planned Parenthood for criminal violations. (Aug 2015)
- Ban taxpayer funding of abortion & partial birth abortion. (Mar 2015)
- Companies can deny insuring birth control. (Apr 2012)
- Protect innocent human life with partial-birth ban. (Jul 2011)
- Opposes public abortion funding. (Oct 2012)
- Opposes churches providing birth control. (Oct 2012)
How about Education?
- Race-to-the-Top is blackmail against the states. (Mar 2016)
- Abolish the U.S. Department of Education. (Apr 2015)
- The rich already have school choice; give it to the poor. (Apr 2015)
- Supports ending racial preferences for college admissions. (Apr 2015)
- Right to education: public, private, charter, or homeschool. (Mar 2015)
- We should thank parents who homeschool. (Mar 2015)
- Local control of education instead of Common Core. (Mar 2015)
- Facilitate school choice for poor Americans. (Jan 2014)
- Education decisions best made at local level. (Jun 2012)
- Denounce the Common Core State Standards. (Feb 2014)
- Block funding for Common Core; it's too heavy-handed. (Apr 2014)
Do you have any objections to Ted Cruz in terms of gun control?
- Lack of individual right to guns leads to confiscation. (Jan 2016)
- Obama is coming for our guns. (Oct 2015)
- 2nd Amendment is ultimate check against government tyranny. (Jun 2015)
- Opposes unreasonable and burdensome gun restrictions. (Jul 2011)
- Voted NO on banning high-capacity magazines of over 10 bullets. (Apr 2013)
- Opposes restricting the Second Amendment. (Oct 2012)
- Oppose the United Nations' Arms Trade Treaty. (Sep 2013)
One more try: Any criticisms of Cruz for his stance on immigration?
- Bar refugees from terrorist-ridden regions. (Mar 2016)
- Children deported with parents can come back, if citizens. (Feb 2016)
- I led the fight to defeat the Reid-Schumer amnesty bill. (Feb 2016)
- FactCheck: Yes, Bill Clinton deported 12M illegal aliens. (Dec 2015)
- Build a wall instead of massive amnesty plan. (Dec 2015)
- Enforce the law against millions of illegals currently here. (Dec 2015)
- Illegals are an economic calamity for low-wage Americans. (Nov 2015)
- Support Kate's Law: oppose our leaders who won't enforce. (Aug 2015)
- Path to citizenship is profoundly unfair to legal immigrants. (Feb 2015)
- End Obama's illegal amnesty via Congress' checks & balances. (Nov 2014)
- Defund amnesty; and refuse any nominees until rescinded. (Nov 2014)
- No path to citizenship for 1.65 million illegals in Texas. (Oct 2012)
- Give police more power to ask about immigration status. (Jun 2012)
- Boots on the ground, plus a wall. (Apr 2012)
- Triple the size of the Border Patrol. (Mar 2012)
- Strengthen border security and increase enforcement. (Jul 2011)
It's no wonder the attacks on Ted Cruz are all either personal or unsubstantiated. Other than his one flaw of running against Trump, his political positions and his voting record are all mainstream FR positions.
It’s weird and odd.
You've been on FR as long as I have, and you don't understand media spin?
Come on, altura.Trump decided to play it this way because everyone thinks we live in a democracy.
It ain't true, but that's what most everyone thinks...
Trump is the only one who seems to be able to endurethe blast, but even he got nicked pretty good by the old fossil gunner Chrissie Matthews.
Cruz wouldn't stand a chance if Trump wasn't taking all the fire from the main battery.
For the same reason Santorum couldn’t. :)
I always thought you were a guy, but it appears as though I'm wrong. You a Bruised Gender? :)
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