ETA: after re-reading your post, it dawned on me that I misunderstood @Humbabella.
Sorry to interject, but I could interpret your words in a way that sounds like you mistrust experts, and professional politics.
I don’t think you do, really, but I find it worth noting for this thread that the idea of representative democracy is about delegating, including negotiations and compromise, to people we trust. Often, that means that they are experts in one field or the other. In other cases, it means they know the laws, rules, traditions and folklore of the political and burocratic system, and can thus try to negotiate better.
I realise that the US system, while bloody and mindnumbingly partisan, and closed, for some reason has an opening for celebs. But quite seriously, I think that’s exactly the opposite of what representative democracy is supposed to be.
sighs Then again, why would anyone listen to me? I’m just some foreign European from a former shithouse country, with no understanding of the finer nuances of political discourse in the US.
