Political Rant #1

So I was watching a rerun of the always excellent Colbert Report on Comedy Central last night in which he interviewed Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation and staunch Democrat, when I came to a decision - I am apolitical.

I had a sneaking suspicion of this this past November during the Virginia gubernatorial elections. I was being bombarded with political messages on TV, radio, and in print. People kept asking me for whom I was going to vote. So I did the research and looked into the records and stances of the leading Democrat and Republican. Guess what? Their platforms were identical. They could've jumped party affiliations and it would have made no difference. Yet they visciously attacked one another in their ad campaigns. Personal attacks, not political. I made an informed decision not to vote. As I listened to Vanden Heuvel last night I realised that she had allowed her political convictions to skew her entire outlook on life. I would wager that if you told her simply that you are a registered Republican, and nothing more, she would hate you for that fact alone.

I guess I just don't understand how people can care so deeply about these trivial political matters. I guess I am a Republican in theory - in that I believe in a smaller government - but the association ends there. Did I vote for George Bush? Yes. Twice. Do I regret those votes? Almost everyday. Do I thank God that Al Gore and/or John Kerry is not president? Almost everyday. In today's political society is there really any difference? 99 out of 100 politicians are egomaniacs that just love to here themselves speak. They accomplish nothing. Every time a meaningful law is introduced that appears to be passable in the House, one million riders are attached that have nothing to do with the original and are simply tacked on for personal gain. The result is one of two outcomes: 1) the law passes with ridiculous stipulations attached like $5bil to build a bridge spanning Alaska and Siberia or 2) the law gets shot down. It's a joke. In reality they should just change the political parties to 'For' and 'Against' abortion, because, let's face it, that's really the only difference these days.

People try to make things so black and white, but that is never the case in real life. Reality is always found in the gray areas in between. Am I for or against abortion? As a lifelong Catholic and educated (or so I like to think) man, I truly believe that life begins at conception - you cannot quantify life. But ask me again, after I've just found out that my 13 year old daughter or my wife or my sister has been raped and is pregnant, and I would definitely feel differently. Am I for or against capital punishment? I think it's barbaric and has no place in civilized society. But I also don't think that a person convicted of murdering children deserves to live - his life is forfeit. Maybe that makes me spineless for not taking a stance, but I refuse to allow the media's oversimplification of the issues to alter my better judgement.

What it boils down to, unfortunately, is that our elected officials, by and large, don't care about us. They care about their power, about seeing themselves on television, about their own pride, and about their legacy. They take months off at a time then return to work and vote themselves a pay increase. They are interchangeable cogs in what has become a flawed and broken machine. They have gone from being servants of the people, representing our best interests, to rulers of the people, representing their own.

But it's not entirely the fault of the politicians. The media can share a large portion of the blame - what with their red states and blue states and their general dumbing of America with the tripe with which they polute our airwaves and print. And I guess you can't forget the American populace in general. Americans are increasingly stupid these days. They're more concerned with Jessica and Nick than the elections in Iraq.

I don't say this because I don't like America. Quite the contrary, I love America. I would die for our country. But here's the thing - and this is for everybody - this shit is not easy. A strong, functioning democracy takes a lot of work. You can't just coast on your laurels - and this is across the board. Politicians - I don't care what you did in the past or what your party has accomplished. You work for me! I write your paycheck! Quit dicking around with my money. Media - Quit trying to make everything so simple. Life is not simple. I know you may not be able to devote two pages to Paris Hilton if you spend extra time covering both sides of an issues, but so be it. You'll only hurting yourselves because, eventually, people will realize all your stuff sucks. People - Quit being so damn stupid. Turn off American Idol and read a book. Don't vote for someone because you like his or her hair or because you share the same religion. That's not an informed vote!