The other day retired journalist and fellow curmudgeon, Tony Seton, sent me an email he received from a Democrat in congress asking him his opinion about a number of issues. He replied, as I would have, but more politely, that that's what he sent her to congress to do; make the right decisions about the things he cared about.

Thanks to an exception congress carved out for themselves in the widely ignored "Do Not Call List," I get at least three calls a week from political polling companies wanting to know how I feel about this or that issue or issues.

The right thing to do when you get calls like that is to hang up on them. No explanations or apologies required. And no, you are not shirking your duty as a citizen. You performed that duty, all of it, when you voted in the last election.

Let's get this straight. Once every two, four or six years, depending on the office, we have to listen, ad nauseaum, to all the things the candidates feel, think, believe, will do, will not do, have done but will never do again, can't wait to do, did before and would do again, believe in, don't believe in, will fight for or will fight against.

Armed with this (often dubious) portfolio of promises, we vote for the candidate we believe - or at least hope - will do what he/she assured us they would do.

Ah, but what about stuff that pops up later? Things that were not issues back when we voted?

Hello! When we voted we sent someone off to do our business for a set number of years. When we voted for him/her we used the impressions they created during the campaign as a gauge of whether we were comfortable, not just with their position on current issues, but with their decision-making abilities. It wasn't like we didn't know new issues would emerge during their term of office. We knew there would be unforeseen issues and we figured, when we voted for a specific candidate that he/she had the mental, emotional and moral fibre required to make the right choices. But, if they fail us in that expectation, then we un-elect them next time around.

That's how it's supposed to work. That's the whole goddamn enchilada.

But polling has become a kind of cheat-sheet for politicians. Now they want to know ahead of time how we feel about damn near anything that might affect our vote next time around. More often than not it boils down to whether or not they should just go ahead and make the right decision for the state or nation, or first find out how much trouble that might cause them back home if they do.

Polling now drives so many, if not virtually all, political decisions then we are no longer a republic, but a village of 350 million. Polling on this scale turns us all into defacto-citizen legislators.

That's the kind of governance today's hyper-polling produces.

Well hell, if that's how it's going to work from now, why are we wasting time and tons of money running campaigns. Why vote one every few years when folks can vote every morning over coffee?

If that's what we want, then let's just admit it and get on with it. After all, we have the technology now to manage such a large village; online debates, online polls, online voting, online impeachment. And God knows there's no shortage of online pundits - like me.

If that's what we want.

But I sure as hell don't want that. I've seen the kind of ideas the sausage factory of unharnessed mass opinion produces, and it ain't pretty - or democratic.A virtual Tower of Babel of appalling mendacity and mediocrity.

No, I want to vote for hopefully educated and sane people who perform the job I sent them off to do so I can go about my daily life pursuing the things I want to do. They said they wanted to govern - well fine - so freakin' govern. I sure as hell don't want to govern. If I did, I'd run for office. But I have other things to do. So, I want them to do what they said, act the way they said, think the way the said and govern the way they said when I voted for them. Then, if the don't, or I change my mind, I will vote for someone else.

I'm sorry. I know this is all so 5th grade civics, and beneath you. But apparently it's not beneath virtually every politician in office today. Polls - monthly polls, weekly polls, daily polls even hourly polls, now dominate the lives and minds and decisions of most politicians. Right behind polling is the other activity that consumes the rest of their days in office, fundraising - so they can afford to pay from more polling.

Leaders lead. Wankers poll.

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newsforreal.com



About author Stephen Pizzo is the author of numerous books, including "Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans," which was nominated for a Pulitzer. His web site is Stephen Pizzo is the author of numerous books, including "Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans," which was nominated for a Pulitzer. His web site is News For Real