Election 2006

Okay, first off, I'm already slightly wrong. My prediction here has not come true. I am no prophet, because things are changing.

But not really.

I was talking with my dad today about my fervent fever dream for America . . . a parliament.

Did you know that the 45 Democrat Senators represent more people than the 54 Republican Senators? Those statistics are for the Senate before the election, of course, and since that's done with, I'm not going to try to find the source for this again. The point still holds though, ours is not a representational government. The same is true for the House, though not to the same extent. Of course, in the House, the Democrats typically get a higher percentage of the vote in the districts that they win.

Brilliant.

So, due to the structure of our democracy, the people in power have no reason to make any changes, but let's talk about my idea anyway.

I have no idea what the real definition of "parliament" is, but, let me give you my definition:

A parliamentary house is a house that gives seats by a popular vote. This doesn't mean that you have a specific candidate when you vote. There is no person for your district with their name on the ballot. Instead of voiting for a person, you vote for a party.

Like, I would vote for the Gay Atheist Psuedo-Socialist Libertarian Party (yes, I realize the inherant contradiction in there). My mother would vote the Liberal Old Person Party. My brother would vote for the Marines Against Stupidity Party.

Now, you'd look at the total number of votes for each party nationally. Let's say that the GAPSL party gets 2 million votes. The LOP Party gets 3 million votes. The MAS Party gets 2.5 million votes. So, out of 15 seats, the gays would get 4, the old people would get 6, and the marines get 5.

Now, no party has a controlling majority, but obviously the old people have the upper hand. They form a coalition government by negotiating with the other parties, and select a Prime Minister from their party.

Now, if you want to get something done, you have to negotiate. The gays want to legalize gay marriage? The marines would probably object to that, but if the old people agree, then it'll pass. The marines want to invade another country? The gays would object, but if the old people agree then we're going to invade.

But, if the old people want to increase taxes to 50% income to pay for old people medication, the gays and the marines can join together and vote against them.

This means no more two party system, because nearly any opinion would be represented. If you're a economic liberal who only objects to abortion, you can vote for the democratic pro-life party. If you're a gay person that believe in (Goldwater/Reagan) conservative values, you don't have to vote against your own self interest by voting for the Republicans.

Granted, there will still be corruption, but watching the election coverage, I can still dream that some day I'll have some actual representation.

Also, I found something that I have to laugh at, even though it should be scary. At first look, this is a joke. I mean, could anyone really believe some of that stuff? But it's real. Poe's law, named after someone I've met at CF, states that an extreme satire cannot be distinguished from the real thing.

I have to quote one thing from Mr. Steele (emphasis his):

We can all work on purging the Republican Party of homos after this election is won. Right now we need to ensure that Republicans retain control of Congress. I shouldn’t need to remind anyone that we are still engaged in a war against Islamofacists who want to kill us. The Republicans are the only ones equipped to stand up to the terrorists and to keep us alive and I think you know that.

I mean, I may be gay, but at least I still live in the real world, right? I have something to tell Mr. Steele. We're undetectable, and you're never going to get rid of us.

One other thing: Steven Colbert is a genius.

Finally, I got my new wireless desktop, which probably doesn't sound like much, but for means that I can write again without having to put a huge strain on my neck. I'll still have to take it easy, but it means that I really have a lot more freedom than I had before. I can post blog entires again.

That's kind of exciting for me. I'm not limited just to reading anymore.