I’m watching clips from the CNN/YouTube Democratic Debate.  Damn!  I missed it when it was on TV – since I don’t usually watch the news (too much negativity and fear-based spin for my taste), I didn’t know it was even happening.

I have to say, I’m quite excited at the concept of YouTube and CNN joining together to give the American people a voice in the selection of their next President.  As an American (well, technically now, dual US/Canadian citizen) myself, for years I have felt shame and frustration towards the current US government administration.  The country was founded on such noble principles and to see the system exploited by a tyrant with a penchant for stuffing his (and his friends’) pockets with oil money and warmongering at the cost of US soldiers’ lives and endless taxpayer money…well, let’s just say Canada seems like a good place to be in the political climate that exists in the US today.  Thank God that, thanks to the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution (yes, I had to look it up to know which one it was) Dubya is not allowed to be President EVER AGAIN after his current term finishes. Term limits are great when you have an idiot at the helm, but terrible when you finally get someone good (does that ever happen anyway??).

Got a little side-tracked on the above paragraph…but, the point I was trying to make was that I think it’s a very exciting prospect for candidates to be made more accountable for answeringing questions from real people within the US public at this stage of the election process.  Most of the time, all the debates are so polished with candidates having pre-written answers for questions they know they are going to be asked.  So, this is a refreshing prospect to see real people have the chance to ask – and have answered – the questions that affect their daily lives. I think it lends a certain, very-much-needed, element of humanity to the process.

Now, all that has to be figured out is how to extend this accountability and close connection between candidates and constituents to when someone actually wins an election and is office.  The Constitution is supposed to exist to provide that accountability, but I think politicians are all-too-clever and underhanded at this point in time for the Constitution to really protect the people and give them the voice that was intended when it was written.  How do we modernize the way government and people interact to ensure that they are actually doing work that is by the people, of the people and for the people???  Or, is that a novel idea that whose time has passed?  As a proud American, I certainly hope not.

In a related stream of thought…I was thinking a while back how big-box brands have, in certain ways, turned out to be more accountable to the people than government is at this point.  Corporations have serious incentive to keep the people who buy their products or services happy.  If the people are unhappy with the way the company is being run, with its labor practice, quality control, etc., they’ll stop buying from the company.  The threat of withheld revenues (and, thus, shareholders putting pressure on the company) seems to be a strong motivator for companies to act quickly to reform themselves to ensure they maintain support of consumers.  No red tape, no tap-dancing around the issue.  People aren’t happy, we’re losing money, change what they’re unhappy about – period.  This means that, as long as people recognize the power they have, they can affect real change by demanding it.  It’s long past time that the American public figures out a way to realize that we’re really the ones in control and hold the governments we elect accountable in much the same way.