Come together… Right now… Under me…
To begin with, I probably should not even be writing this piece; this being a political article or sorts. I am not a politician or a political commentator. I do not spend hours studying the political happenings of the country or researching this politician or that congressman. Although I voted in the last major election, and in all the previously held elections prior to that since I was old enough to vote, I have a tendency to know very little about the candidates beyond who was running for the major offices like the President, Vice President, Etc. Furthermore, although I do like a spirited conversation about a fiery political topic, if the exchange gets too deep into the details I tend to get all glassy eyed and find that my ADHD starts kicking in. I then find myself wandering to such topics as computer games, how hot looking my wife is, or giant robots invading Chicago. I do like listening to talk radio, so I guess that makes me a bit of en expert of sorts because you can’t listen to talk radio and not hear about politics.
All and all I guess I am just your average American, voting for the candidate offering the best commercials. I look for one that offers a positive spin rather than the mudslinging you always see. I lean towards a candidate that sounds the most articulate in the debates (I do like to watch a good debate) and promises to really make a difference.
But then…
There I said it. The key detailing why I AM an expert in this political stuff; why I do not only have a right to say my piece but am uniquely qualified to do so:
I am an American
As an American, I have a say in this process we jokingly call “The political process”. Not only do I have a say in this process, but I have a responsibility to say it. Yes, I am only one voice, scrawling my dialog on a blog viewed by… 6 so far… I think it was 6 the last time I checked. But never the less, 6 or 60 thousand, if the ONE voice doesn’t speak up and try and make sense out of this… nonsense, then we risk the chance of it all becoming “The Norm”. Soon, before we know what hit us, it will be the accepted standard for politicians to say one thing, and do another; for the media to spin a story that has nothing to do with reality, and for our entire government to be concerned only about two things: Keeping their jobs, and who is winning the game.
If I had to guess, I would say I’m a moderate. I have never really agreed wholeheartedly with either side of the politically accepted standards of “getting things done”. Too often I feel that the conservatives and republicans are too hard line and inflexible in some cases, and the democrats and liberals are way to whiney about everything. I more like to take the logical parts of each and try to build a sensible model out of the combination. I like to listen to each side, along with whatever I can find from those more obscure groups like the Libertarians, the Green Party or the American Freedom Party, blend it all together and pluck out the parts I think make sense.
A few years back I used to listen to the Rush Limbaugh radio show almost religiously. At the time, I felt that he was well spoken, articulate, and fairly reasonable about the positions he spoke of and stood for. I have since drifted, mainly because I feel he has become way too full of himself, more interested in entertaining than speaking anything of substance. He did however say something once that helped me to understand this political process a bit better; something that I have grown to believe in wholeheartedly.
He was taking a call from a listener who was complaining about the whole political process, and how all they do is complain and bicker. He was taking the stance that if the political parties could all just get along that we’d get a lot more done. Rush’s response was straight and to the point:
The American political process is based upon disagreement and discord. It is designed to provide an arena for differing opinions and ideas, presented by a vastly divergent group of people, made up of Americans from all walks of life. It was created so that no one single idea, ideal or philosophy could dominate, and that through it all, after combining all the cacophony of dialog, concepts and discussion, the end result would be the best of it all –the best path for the country.
They are not supposed to agree!
At the time, when I heard this I think the country felt more like it was getting somewhere. Now however… I’m not so sure.
I was not against either President Bush when they were in office. In their own times, with the issues they had to deal with, I thought they did alright –not perfect, but alright. President Clinton was okay as well but when he became more entrenched in “not having sex with that woman…”, I kind of felt he was more of a “God-Ol-Boy” rather than a serious leader. In 2008 however, I felt the time had come for a change. G.W. Bush was getting tired, and although I felt things started out alright, they weren’t in very good shape by the time his last term was over.
Candidate Obama seemed fresh, new, and full of promise. He seemed like a leader offering a great opportunity to get away from politics as usual. An open political process where we would all know what was happening and why.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not going to say that he has blown it big time. But I will say that he has proven, to me at least, that nothing survives Washington and the White House unsoiled –not completely.
The concept of a full and open government never really happened. We did get a revamp of the health care system like he promised, but nobody really knows what’s in it and not everyone has agreed to support it even though it’s now law. After it was passed the Democrats did nothing but gloat and walk around all full of themselves and the Republicans did nothing but scheme and plan on how to dissolve it all before it was too late. The deficit was going to be cut in half yet it has only grown. More jobs have been created according to Washington, and yet more people are unemployed than when he started. Housing prices are down, while food and gas prices keep going up. As Americans, we are expected to follow a budget and to live within our means. If we do not, we are hounded by collectors; we lose our homes, our cars and everything else to pay the debt. If our taxes are late or underpaid the government can also take just about everything. Yet this very same government hasn’t passed a budget in the Senate in years and if they run out of money, they just raise the limit of what they can spend and increase taxes to help pay for it.
And now, it’s even a bad idea to become successful in this country. It’s a bad idea because when you do become successful and you finally start making the extra money you have worked so hard to get, the government punishes you by raising your taxes to help supplement for those who don’t have as much as you -this in the name of fairness.
I voted for President Obama the first time around because I felt we were ready for a change. I usually went with the republican candidate in the past because they usually made more sense to me. In 2008 however even they didn’t make sense. In 2012 I was ready to go with the opposition; I had had enough of President Obama and was ready to give Newt a chance. Yet at the last moment I decided the opposite. I decided to give President Obama another chance and let him finish what he started.
And now… Look where we are now!
The Government Sequester has got the politicians running around frantically like crazy people. They are, on one hand worrying about how it will affect their jobs while on the other publically scaring the general population of the country into believing that old ladies and children are going to starve because of it all.
We Have Dennis Rodman communing with Kim Jong-un of North Korea and telling the world what a great leader he is, while our leaders can’t or won’t get a word in edgewise with him. Meanwhile, Mr. “ UN” is telling the world how he’s going to blow up the U.S. and make us pay for all our aggression.
And now, all you need to do to become a citizen of this country is sneak in and hang around for a long time.
To quote the 1967 film “Cool Hand Luke”: “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate”.
I think this is why I’m a moderate at heart; it’s because at times like this, neither side of the isle seems to be doing much more than pointing fingers and covering their hind ends!
I am a firm believer in the concept of how politics is supposed to work. I know they are not supposed to agree; but in the end, they are still supposed to represent the people who put them there. They are still supposed to get something done.
