King of Snake wrote:... and should punish those who would use that power to trample on the basic freedoms of the population (as has happened under the Bush administration)
... which will set the 'law' (constitution ?) out of order as there are (possibly hidden) provisions to prevent this in any such society I'm aware of...

I don't know the 'Shakespear-quote' further up, but if he saw it that way a few hundred years ago, little has or is about to change in that context.
As long as 'politics' is a well paid job with lots of possibilities but few (if any ...) responsibility, it's suposed to s*ck.
Taxes aren't problem at all, 2/3 of the price for gas in Germany is taxes, but don't even think that people buy an 'economic' car... the highest rates of new registrations are for high powered vehicles - everyone complains, but noone cares - as long as it's fun (no speed limit on the autobahn) and prestige people enjoy it

and don't even think that the government could 'afford' a 3 litre/per 100 km vehicle, they are all talking bs when it comes to 'environmental' concerns... 46 million cash cows can't be ignored
cheers, Tom