I'm Sick of Politics As Usual

And it's only August, nowhere near Election Day.

It's not bad enough I'm assaulted with slam ads every time I turn on my TV or radio, now I get all this crap by email. I'm sick of it. Even when I send out emails and ask people not to send me that stuff I still get it. I guess I'm on some kind of group list.

I'm not going to go into my personal political affiliation or ideology. That's not anybody's business but mine and the voting booth's. My view of politicians as a breed is pretty cynical. I think that anyone who has been in either house of Congress for more than 10 seconds is probably a criminal and deserves to be lined up along the wall and shot. I don't believe there is any such thing as an honest politician. Every last one of them has sold out their ideals or beliefs, every one has prostituted him- or herself in the interest of getting what they want. There's more pork in a Congressional bill than on a pig farm. And our "public servants" are only serving themselves, the public be damned. Well I'd like to say to them, "You're a public servant, I'm the public. You're fired!" See? I told you I was cynical. I also believe that even though our political system isn't perfect, it's better than the majority of governments in the world.

After listening to the ads so far (and they haven't even gotten really nasty yet) and being bombarded with email, my question is: If Obama is as evil as McCain paints him and McCain is as evil as Obama paints him, why would you vote for either one? Hmm. Could it possibly be that the ad agencies who produce these ads are engaging in a little hyperbole? Is it possible that the emails that are sent out as "fact" are just a bit slanted toward the sender's own political view? Nah! Nobody would ever do that! Not here in the land of free speech. It has been my experience that when extremes are presented on either side that the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

I don't know whether President McCain will be better than President Obama or if President Obama will be better than President McCain. I don't think that with either one things will get better for my personal economy; I'm the only one who can change that. I don't think that either one of them will make our country more secure; if anyone wants to launch a terrorist attack against the U.S. then a way will be found to do it. I don't think either one of them will be able to successfully end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and bring our troops home; we're too deeply involved for a quick solution within the next four years.

I think one of the biggest problems with this country is that the majority of its citzens expect the government to do it all and are too lazy to hold that same government accountable when it fails to do what its citzens want. Too many people complain about our government and too few do what is necessary to change it, namely, VOTE!

So once again I'm left with a choice for president between two people I'm not crazy about. It would just be so easy to not vote at all but I won't do that. I will vote. I will vote to preserve my right to bitch about the presidential administration and Congress we get, whether I am part of the majority that put it in office or not. I will vote because it is my right and duty as a citizen of the United States and if I don't then I might as well move to a country run by a military dictatorship that doesn't believe in allowing its citizens to have a say. I will vote because I am still idealistic enough to believe that my vote can make a difference. I will vote because it's the best way I can express my approval or disapproval of our elected officials. Yes, I will vote. But this year I think I'll vote for Darth Vader. I'm tired of voting for the lesser of two evils.