Isn't this sort of a no-lose situation, though? I hear this one a lot, but if the troops are at war, won't the press and people harp on them endlessly if they don't vote for these bills, saying "they don't want to fund the troops, they hate America", etc?
Though I agree with everything else you said. And I admit I know very little about politics.
Its no big deal, I wouldn't even expect many people on this forum to deeply care about US politics as its obviously a Canadian forum. I'm just disgusted with the entire US political system at this point. It doesn't matter which party obtains power, its going to be a nation of God with all kinds of government goodies for churches that have no business taking the money.
Technically its unconstitutional, but what does the constitution matter these days anyway? LOL
Much like the constitution of the old Soviet Union stated that all power comes from the people, in practice it never panned out, and the same is true of the US when it comes to separation of church/state.
Ultimately it comes down to the people, I'm not even sure I care about the politicians so much. I was upset at George W Bush in 2000 because he wasn't properly elected, he was selected as President. I was upset after 2004, it really shows the character of the American people.
Bush isn't the problem, the American people are. If there wasn't a big market for religious politics, Barack Obama wouldn't be doing what he is doing.
Again, I can't technically be upset at Obama, its ultimately the American people and the character of the US as a whole.
In Canada there isn't a constitutional separation of church and state that I'm aware of, but there is a public trust of sorts that believes in multiculturalism and the overwhelming majority don't want it, so by default you have a clear separation of church/state.
In America only a few minority voices in places like New York City or San Francisco ever seem to care about it, so its never going to be true in the US.
I genuinely like Canada more, and I wait for the day I'm able to move. Its been several years in the making and I've not given up, just will take several years longer.
And its not over this issue, but its just one more log to throw on the fire so-to-speak.
The biggest thing I'd find annoying about Ontario is that government dollars are spent at Catholic schools, but the irony still is that Catholic schools in Ontario are more a-religious than many public schools where I grew up in Tennessee. This past year they approved biblical classes to be taught in public schools back where I grew up, which is a radical transfer back in time before the 1960's. There has been a dramatic shift in just the 10 years since I was a high schooler.
Go figure. Its all about the character of people in the long run, forget government.
The United States is the most ironic of all western industrialized nations. No where will you find such worldly, advanced, scientific, architecturally magnificent, and wealthy cities such as San Francisco and New York, just to have the entire pie as a whole still be so backwards and screwed up. The tens of millions of people from Texarkana to Huntington, Fargo to Shreveport totally ruin what could be the greatest nation on Earth.
The United States is the only nation that has Manhattan, Chicago's Gold Coast, South of Market in San Francisco, West Hollywood, South Beach in Miami with its million dollar homes, just to have millions of square miles of Chicago's south side, Memphis' Orange Mound, West Virginia's more Eastern-european like economy, or South Central LA.
There is no balance.
The US is like a marine doped up on steroids swaggering his penis all over the place screaming look at me, but in the end the brawn is holding back the brains.
If I ever moved back to Chicago, I'd just have to accept the fact that my swanky north side apartment would be only a few miles away from an otherwise 3rd world country from South Michigan and 35th all the way to Park Forest.