Originally posted by 1K3
i think Rolex can shed light on what's going on there.
What is this LDP and DPJ? Is that like the equivalent of Republicans and Democrafts?
The LDP, DPJ, Republicans and Democrats are equivalent. They are all lead by slimy, pond scum politicians.
It's a parliamentary system.
That's what you do in a parliamentary system. If the government becomes stagnant and deadlocked, you call for new elections or let the ruling party choose another leader, who becomes prime minister, for the good of the country. You don't have to wait years until a fixed election date to move forward and try to get something done. A poor leader doesn't have to drag the country down even further for years.
It's not such a big deal. They were surprised because he just got finished saying that he would not resign after the trouncing his party took in mid-term elections.
So:
He is a not-too-bright, underachiever son and grandson of powerful politicians who can't utter a coherent sentence.
His approval rating was about 30%
His own party and the opposition party had no respect for him.
The legislature was virtually deadlocked because of the bickering about him and his political appointments, his cabinet and his position on Iraq that runs counter to what the majority of the country wants. They've been down that road before, so following leaders into war with blind obedience doesn't sit very well.
The country is tired of throwing their tax dollars down the rat hole called "The War on Terror" that only fuels terrorism. They're willing to do reconstruction in Iraq, but all the money so far has been stolen, squandered or become unaccounted for with nothing to show for it. They would rather spend their tax dollars on domestic needs, their own people and protecting their own borders from illegal immigrants.
Hey, wait a minute. That all sounds vaguely familiar, but I just can't place where I heard it before...
(Just in case you didn't know, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Japan paid for the first Gulf War and the Japanese Naval Self-Defense Force (Navy) has been fueling every navy in the world with ships in the current war.)
His likely successor, Aso Taro, comes from another politically connected family and his sister married into the royal family. His father's successful cement business almost single handedly cemented over every last square inch of Japan, dammed every river and even cemented under every river. Rivers are cement conduits now with no natural bottom.
Not satisfied with that, every linear foot of coastline is now cemented and every single light pole is made from cement. Concrete condominiums, concrete houses and even concrete wallpaper patterns are now available everywhere so people can enjoy concrete when no "natural" concrete is around.
He studied at Stanford for a short while, but his parents made him leave because he was becoming too Americanized. His priorities include things like:
- changing the constitution to eliminate that pesky Article 9 that renounces war as a national policy.
- building up the military to make a strong Japan. The budget is only 4th in the world now.
- building a nuclear arsenal to make the world safe for democracy and protect the Japanese way of life
- compulsory singing of the national anthem every day in school and instilling nationalism and teary eyes at the sight of the flag (neither are part of the culture now)
- being unapologetic about invading other countries because it was for their own good
So, I suppose he's like a moderate republican in US terms?
