Happy weekend everyone. I have the pleasure of writing this blog at approximately 4 am EST as I'm unable to sleep. I'm highly pleased it's Saturday as I hope most of my friends are as well. The Cardinals are in the World Series and I'm pretty psyched about that. Anyway let's talk about politics for a while shall we?
Very little has changed in American politics since the mid 1990's. I'm guessing the un-changing of the guard dates back many years before that but the mid 1990's was when I became aware of and interested in American politics. We elect Democrats and become unhappy with the way things are going and then elect Republicans. Most areas of the country are solidly either Republican or Democrat. As American voters we are pressured to identify with one political party or the other. When a Republican is President he blames all the countries problems on the Democrats and all the Democrats whine and bellyache and plot and scheme to win the next Presidential election. When a Democrat is President he blames all of the countries problems on Republicans and Republicans whine and bellyache and plot and scheme about how to win the next election.
In all reality it's absurd that we as Americans would totally identify with either party. For instance I don't think all of my Republican friends are anti gay rights or opposed to social security. I don't think all of my Democrat friends are pro-choice or pro-union. Polls suggest that 70 % of Americans identify themselves as Moderates, or centrist and opposed to either the extreme left of extreme right. This tells me that most Americans are similar to me and identify with some conservative ideology and some liberal platforms as well. Yet we allow ourselves to be pigeonholed as Republican or Democrat and then commence to sling as much mud as possible at the other party.
Then there are those who claim they hate politics and can't understand why Republicans and Democrats are always arguing. These folks tend to be unmotivated to watch candidates debates, peruse the news about political happenings and vote the same party no matter what happens. These folks tend to vote the same way as their parents or significant others or other influential people in their lives.
I have several Republican friends decrying what they perceive to be the socialist actions of our current President Barack Obama. These same folks tend to overlook or "forget" the similar actions committed by our previous President George W. Bush. These folks and their opponents go back and forth constantly much to my entertainment. Up until this part of the blog things have been relatively non-partisan and I warn you that's likely to change in the near future.
I was raised in an ultra-conservative Republican home. My Father listened to talk radio most days and loved Rush Limbaugh. When I became interested in politics it's likely I would have considered myself to be a Republican. That began to change while I was in college. When I was a student at our local community college a good friend of mine, who happened to be gay, desired to start a support group for gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered folks. Now you must understand dear reader that Coles County Illinois is not what you would call an open-minded community. You wouldn't call the citizens there progressive thinkers. Me, being the type to have never found a controversy I didn't like, quickly joined his cause. As you can imagine this created quite a stir in our small community. Now our community college happened to have a college sanctioned club called the Young Republicans. This group of folks strongly opposed the starting of this support group of gay folks. Their obdurate opposition (I think they were afraid God would cause a natural calamity to destroy our campus) to this club caused me to realize that much of the Republican party was full of shit. How can a political party oppose a whole group of folks being treated with the same rights as any other group of folks?
After my brief and tumultuous stint in college I began to identify with being a moderate American, albeit one who leans a little more left than center. I've been a union member off and on throughout my adult life and yes you guessed it; many Republicans are anti union. I've actually volunteered to help campaign for a few different local and state politicians over the years and I thoroughly enjoy a good political debate. It's just the fact that when I debate with folks they always fall into the cadence of their pledged party. This must stop if we are to bring about any change as Americans my friends.
Here's the deal. I don't hate "W." I don't really even find it necessary to call him names. Do I believe he meant well? Absolutely! Do I think he was in over his head as a President? Absolutely! That doesn't make him a bad person that just means I cringed the day he got reelected. Having said that you may ask my opinion of our current President. I'm not madly in love with him folks. I'm not happy about some of the government loans that have been doled out to companies that have went bust. I do think Barack Obama is a great compromiser. I also think he's way more qualified to be our President than any of the Republican candidates.
I don't hate the Tea Party either. Of course if you know me you can understand that I'm not a fan of it either. I can relate with their agenda of demanding fiscal responsibility out of our government. I just feel the Tea Party is a tad (OK a lot) too conservative for my tastes. Spending much of their efforts attempting to prove Barack Obama wasn't a natural citizen caused them to look like buffoons. I have close friends who claim to be Tea Party members. It's hard for me to imagine these folks wanting the rich to continue getting richer while the middle class goes away but that's the agenda of the organization they support. On the flip side I'm not totally buying into the Occupy protests either. I'm a fan of reckless rebelliousness in general but I'm not sure that the Occupy folks are bringing forth a clear and concise agenda. What I do know is that the Tea Party folks absolutely hate the Occupy folks. Actually the Tea Party folks appear to hate everyone that's not similar to them.
So how do we end this vicious cycle of insanity you ask gentle readers? It's not simple and I really don't have all the answers. I do know it's extremely sad that nearly half of our eligible voters in America don't even bother to vote. It's sad that as loyal party-ists we continue to sling half truths at each other. It's sad that folks buy completely into what Fox News is selling. The Fox news supporters always accuse me of watching MSNBC for some reason although I'm a fan of Channel 13 ABC for local news and I happen to watch CNN, granted I watch sports way more than I watch the news. It's a shame that we allow our pledged parties to dictate how we think and act. It's a shame that we allow there to be career politicians who spend decades working half a year "representing" us. I honestly believe we need a third party somewhere along the way to end the insanity of our current un-changed political landscape.
Right now many people are unhappy with the conditions in our country so it's possible Republicans could win the next presidential elections. Although I believe they've got to find a candidate that at least appears to be a little more moderate. We'll continue to sling mud at each other and allow half truths to be told in order to support our parties candidates. We'll keep trudging the way we do now. The rich will get richer. The poor will get poorer. More and more folks will be without health insurance if Republicans have their way with the weakening of unions. We'll also work more hours for less money and receive a lot less in our benefits packages although we'll continue to pay increasingly more money for said benefits. Republicans don't believe this however. They take their 40 hour work weeks, health and benefits and safe working conditions for granted. I think they forget they have those blessings in their life because once upon a time a union bargained for them.
I digress. My seven year old daughter today asked me how old she had to be to vote. She guessed 13. When I told her the voting age was 18, she informed me that when she turned 18 that she would just vote for whomever I told her too. I informed her that if that was the case then I had failed as a Father. For you see I want my Children to grow up learning to think for themselves. I know they will be influenced greatly by their upbringing but I remember being a lad and being forced to listen to Rush Limbaugh everyday. People can change. It's unfortunate that politics rarely do.
So long folks.
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