All day long, I see and hear people complaining about who the current President is (doesn't matter which era we are discussing it happens with every single one). Some of us younger generation I am willing to give a SMALL bye to on this as in the last couple decades, civics classes, and government classes have slowly been getting tailored down if not outright removed from middle school and high school curriculum's. However, even though I did not have the opportunity to go through a civics class, I did go through a basic government class, and I paid attention big time. I learned quite a lot, and the biggest thing I learned is that no matter what, no matter who agrees or disagrees, it is OUR responsibility to see that the government does it's job correctly and properly.

I also learned that no matter what happens, someone is not going to get what they want, or who they want, as we go by popular vote. Depending on how close the election is, dictates how many disgruntled people are going to be out there. What we have to remember though, is that just because WE did not want this person, the rest of the people who have the right to an opinion and a vote obviously DID want them as President; so now it is our turn to step forward, and help keep government running and working efficiently and properly, just as it will be their turn when we get who we want in office.

Now, I am speaking in General terms here, I am not representing my own candidate beliefs or anything, so please do not take this to mean I do or do not support President Obama or Hilary Clinton, etc. What I support is our freedom to control the government and our freedom though PEACEFUL, LEGAL AND APPROPRIATE means.

some other interesting facts I learned and still remember:

1. to run for President, you have to be an American BORN citizen; you can not be an immigrant who naturalized, or got a got a green card. This means you had to have been born on American soil, which is either the mainland (includes Hawaii and Alaska), or on an American military post or Embassy (American soil).

2. To run for President, you have to have reached the MINIMUM age of 35 years, though there is no maximum age limit.

3. To run for President, all you have to do is sign up (simplified, I agree but that's the basis). ANY American-born citizen, age 35 and older may run for President, no matter what their political party is.

4. As a citizen, it is my responsibility to not cause dissension and chaos in regards to the government; which means if I disagree with something, I do not get a mob of unruly people carrying pitchforks and torches, to take care of the matter. I do NOT try and talk people into rioting, or doing anything that is not peaceful and productive.

5. It is my responsibility to step forward and run for office myself, if I do not think anyone currently in office, or who is going to run is capable, unless I can find someone who is willing to run that I agree with.

6. The government has numerous checks and balances that are designed to keep one part from getting more powerful than another.

7. No single person or group is able to enact a law, or a change without so much support from another group. This goes for the President as well; He can not simply step up and say, "I believe universal healthcare, ran by the government....." and say it is now law. He has to write up a formal proposal, present it to Congress and have it go through the same process as all other laws. Congress has to do the same thing. In the end, a proposed bill ends up back on the Presidents desk. Yes the President has power to veto a proposed bill, however it then goes back to Congress and goes through the process again, and Congress can override the veto with, I THINK (could be wrong) a 2/3 vote; which means the President cant just sit back and say no to everything except his own wishes, etc.

8. This country has a LOT of freedoms; personally some of them should be considered more a privilege than a freedom, but that's just my opinion. As a Nation, we are spoiled because we have the "right" to just about everything, and this brings us into conflict and dissent with ourselves in some cases, as the freedom for one person to do something goes against the freedom of another person to not do the same thing.

9. It does not matter how many laws are made or erased if the people don't support them, because in the end, the people WILL change those laws, hopefully by pressing their legal rights forward by voting and running, etc.

10. This is the BEST country out there (Sorry Britain, Japan, China, Australia, lol but I AM biased in this matter ). Even with all of our mistakes and problems, we are still the best.


Now with all of that said, I urge everyone here, to educate themselves more (even if you are a professor of civics and government already), and to open their minds up to peace and common sense. Do what is right, and do not go off half-baked. If everyone can simply step back for a moment, take a collective breath, and agree that their is a good way to change what we don't like, then move forward to enact that change, then a lot of the current problems we are facing with public dissension will cease to exist.

Sorry, I'm all for making voices heard, by whatever means necessary. Our founding mothers and fathers went to war against what was arguably the strongest country in the world for those beliefs. Our country was involved in a civil war of brother against brother to fight for their beliefs. I believe that, should it come down to it, we MUST be willing to do what is necessary to get and keep our country on track. I'm all for peaceful means (the thought of violence makes me ill), but I've found that in politics (as in many/most other things), those who speak the loudest are the ones who get heard.

Viva la Revolution!

then move forward to enact that change, then a lot of the current problems we are facing with public dissension will cease to exist.

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Do you really want dissent to cease to exist????? Really...

Thought that is silenced is always rebellious. Majorities, of course, are often mistaken. This is why the silencing of minorities is necessarily dangerous. Criticism and dissent are the indispensable antidote to major delusions.

-Alan Barth

I believe that dissension is one of our duties and responsibilities as Americans. If we don't like what is happening, we have to speak up, forcefully if necessary. If we don't, who will? And then what will happen?

Nothing like that will cease to exist. There will ALWAYS be someone who disagrees with what is being said.

The real problem is that candidates flat out lie while campaigning in order to get elected. Obama talked it up big time about transparency and ethics and lobbyist and special interest and all that change we can believe in - and what did we get - more of the same!!!

I agree that when and if war has been necessary in the past, and with good reasoning. HOWEVER what yuo are failing to mention is that our forefathers, and our future Presidents, in relation to the civil war, did their utmost to get everything settled by peace and the democratic process first.

I am of the opinion that we are nowhere even close to being ready for another civil war, and that it would be far more productive to handle things within the constitutionally approved manner first, before we even begin thinking of such drastic measures. And although yes there is such a thing as a peaceful revolution, in my mind it is not feasable because you have too many malcontents that would not be willing to remain peaceful about it.

I agree that "silencing" the dissentrs would only provoke trouble in the end. I am not suggesting "silencing them" I am suggesting that people who dissent, take action in the legal and appropriate manner that is available already.

the thing to keep in mind is that the radical dissenters who try to disrupt and provoke are a very small minority on both sides left and right. The just sound like a lot of people because they are so noisy and vehement. It's the politics of our day that you have to demonize the opposition. We had it for 8 years with Bush. Some of the most ridiculous accusations and people believed it. Now we get the same thing with Obama

Add to that the inherent sensationalistic quality of the media. As an example, child abductions are no more prevalant than they were 30 years ago. But with the 24 hour news cycle always seeking the most sensationalistic story, you would think that kids are being abducted by the millions

90% of the people in this country are pretty much moderate and middle of the road. A little liberal here and a little conservative there and just shake their heads in amusement at the left wing right wing bomb throwers

Definition from dictionary.com
1. strong disagreement; a contention or quarrel; discord.

Synonyms:
1. strife. See quarrel 1 .

quar⋅rel
1  /ˈkwɔrəl, ˈkwɒr-/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [kwawr-uhl, kwor-] Show IPA noun, verb, -reled, -rel⋅ing or (especially British) -relled, -rel⋅ling.
Use quarrel in a Sentence
See web results for quarrel
See images of quarrel
–noun
1. an angry dispute or altercation; a disagreement marked by a temporary or permanent break in friendly relations.
2. a cause of dispute, complaint, or hostile feeling: She has no quarrel with her present salary.
–verb (used without object)
3. to disagree angrily; squabble; wrangle.
4. to end a friendship as a result of a disagreement.
5. to make a complaint; find fault.

As you can see, the definition of dissent primarily focuses on an angry and violent disagreement, not a simple disagreement. And it is THIS definition that I am referring to with the use of the word dissension. We do not need dissension in the United States. We need rational and even-minded people who will solve problems peacefully.

oh I agree there will always be disagreement, hence my statement about the variance in votes.

I agree that the candidates we have been choosing all lie during the race; I wont say anything about Obama cause I dont feel I have seen enough yet to warrant an opinion that strong, but the key here is, we elect them in the primaries to tun for office. So in the end, who's fault is it for them being in office? We need to start choosing better candidates. Learn about the candidate, look at his background, and the choices they have made or not made. Do NOT just go with the party member of your choice, like so many people do.

We have to stop being lazy when it comes to the elections, and get someone in office who will do the job the way we want them searching people NOW and continue researching, because even if we get the perfect president, they can only be in office for two consecutive terms, and then what will we do?