Quote Originally Posted by Ragoczy View Post
So what do you then do about someone not the candidate who wants to buy airtime to support the candidate's position? In order avoid the "money problem", you'd have to deny that.

Which means I couldn't personally buy a TV ad during the election cycle to express my views.
Again, my point is that the current system is flawed, and any suggestions I've made are purely speculative, without having all the bumps and valleys smoothed out. For example, one answer to your question would be to have local networks provide time, whether weekly or daily or whatever (paid for by the same group which controls the funds for all candidates, perhaps), during which any citizen could air his views regarding his candidate. This still allows free speech without permitting individuals to spend large sums of money in support of one candidate. And in my (admittedly less than perfect) world, the corporations would have no political say, nor would the churches.

I'm sorry, but that's not the way rights work. It's hard to protect them, because it means accepting things you might not necessarily like, but the alternative is opening the door to more and more limits, all, I'm sure, for the best of reasons and with pure intentions. And, in the end, we find that we've given away everything.
I agree with you, it is hard. And I'm not trying to make a definitive rule here that would have to be followed to the letter. I'm merely tossing out ideas. While I agree with you about the undesireability of a pure democracy, I don't particularly care for the current brand of corporate republic which this country's political arena has become. Keep big business and religions out of the political arena and let the citizens decide. Of course there would need to be checks and balances, just as the original Constitution was aiming for.

But change is needed, in my opinion. The current system, while keeping a nodding acceptance of the Constitution, has become so corrupt and controlled by a very small minority that it is virtually impossible for anyone who might threaten that minority to get elected, or even nominated.