Letter: Why the American people feel powerless

Sunday, May 27, 2007 | 7:14 a.m.

In response to Mike Smith's May 24 cartoon (shown below), I don't watch "American Idol" but maybe I should. Then I won't worry so much daily about the quality of life my grandchildren will have or for that matter all the grandchildren of the world. The government has it figured out that if we have to struggle to get our basic needs fulfilled, we are not going to have the time or energy to argue with its agenda.

Only those who are profiting from the war want it to continue, but after a while you learn that you have no control over what the government does and the timetable for withdrawal is simply political posturing anyway.

The words "of the people, by the people and for the people" are just that - words from a speech long ago. And the American people know they are powerless to change anything. The Democrats are just as guilty of not caring about the will of the American people as any Republican.

We apparently have lost our will by allowing our representative democracy to become an oligarchy. Psychologists call it "learned helplessness . " I call it giving up.

Michele G. Winsten, Las Vegas