The other day I upset KT because she found out I am not voting in the presidential election. Am I not patriotic? Am I not an American? Eagles are the national bird of the United States, but Eagles fly in Canada too, are they filled with American pride? To the contrary, I feel I am patriotic and American because I choose not to vote. I don’t have to go into my history of service in the Army and thus far, in law enforcement. I know all too well the amount of blood that was shed for the patch on my arm. The blood that was shed however was for freedom, the freedom to choose. It is my choice not to choose.
Thus far, both candidates have been doom and gloom and overwhelmingly negative. They have attacked each other on issue after issue, they rallied the people behind Republican or Democrat, Conservative or Liberal, and they have not sought a middle ground. These politics, every politician for that matter, has done nothing but polarize the country between Left and Right, more so lately, with the attitude of “I’m right and you’re wrong,” not that “I respect your difference in opinion.”
Point number 1, Ignorance. President Bush for example, although he is not my favorite President, I do feel he has not had fair representation. I feel that those who have the real power in the country; sports stars, movie stars, faux media programs and gossip magazines, have labeled him and others in politics as failures. This message then propagates throughout the United States through water cooler talk and heresay. The next thing you know, what started out as a lampoon is taken as the gospel and the truth. Therefore leading to the psychological phenomena of the “band-wagon effect;” the feeling that if everyone feels the same way, then it must be right.
Point number 2, Blame. If everyone points the finger to the Executive branch and to the President and everyone talks about a dismal 28% approval rating, then what about the 12% approval rating of Congress? What about the failure and inability to act on the issues that they were elected to change: gas prices, the Iraq War, terrorism and the economy? What about the only major act of legislation they have thus far, passed was a non-binding resolution to protest the Iraq war. Are the troops home as they promised? Are we still paying $3+ for gas? Is the Army still fighting Al Qaeda? Is the economy teetering on the brink? There is only so much the Executive Branch can do. There is only so much the Legislative Branch can do. There is only so much the Judicial Branch can do. It is spelled out in the constitution in black and white; the separation of powers, not one branch has more power than the other. Therefore, how can it be any one politician’s fault that the United States is perceived as weak.
Point number 3, Perception. Perception is everything, if a candidate or the TV, or a celebrity says the economy is going under, the War on Terror is going badly or someone releases a top ten list poking fun of a person or policy, people will take that literally and not read between the lines. The truth of the matter is that things are not as bad as they seem. With regard to the mainstream media, remember that they are a business and their business is to make money, with that said, every measure must be taken to find out the story for one’s self, not just take things @ face value. Afterall, one should never believe someone who makes money by providing bad news.
Point number 4, Patronize. Republican and Democrat, are on the same page with most issues. If one reads the points from both of their websites and researches their issues, they will find they are in agreement with the major issues that affect the United States. They do differ slightly, but not enough to make a difference. Therefore, no matter who is elected, things will change. What is different about the candidates is that they deliver their points differently, and rally people behind the faux institutions of Republican OR Democrat, Conservative OR Liberal, With OR Against me. They run negative campaign ads because it is all the voter will react to, they say things that make no sense and are grossly inflated all for my vote. If the ads and the campaigning didn't talk down to me, maybe I would get out and vote for one of them.
The public in turn, eats this up, rallies behind their favorite candidate, becomes rude and disrespectful of the other side and further polarizes the country. True, there is something wrong, but it is with them and most who elect them do so on the basis of ignorance. People are fickle, whatever they are fed through the television, their podcasts, their blogs, their radio and god-forbid, they actually read printed media, they will believe. Kang, the space alien from The Simpsons, said it best with regards to the public and the public’s view on elections and issues”
Kang: “Abortions for none!”
Rallying Crowd: “Boo!”
Kang: “Abortions for all!”
Rallying Crowd: “Boo!”
Kang: “Ok, abortions for some, tiny American flags for others.”
Rallying Crowd: “Yeah!”
More seriously, what scares me most is what Benjamin Franklin said: “No outside power, no foreign country will ever defeat the United States. What will tear the country apart will be the citizens themselves.” It is for that reason that I don’t vote.
Thus far, both candidates have been doom and gloom and overwhelmingly negative. They have attacked each other on issue after issue, they rallied the people behind Republican or Democrat, Conservative or Liberal, and they have not sought a middle ground. These politics, every politician for that matter, has done nothing but polarize the country between Left and Right, more so lately, with the attitude of “I’m right and you’re wrong,” not that “I respect your difference in opinion.”
Point number 1, Ignorance. President Bush for example, although he is not my favorite President, I do feel he has not had fair representation. I feel that those who have the real power in the country; sports stars, movie stars, faux media programs and gossip magazines, have labeled him and others in politics as failures. This message then propagates throughout the United States through water cooler talk and heresay. The next thing you know, what started out as a lampoon is taken as the gospel and the truth. Therefore leading to the psychological phenomena of the “band-wagon effect;” the feeling that if everyone feels the same way, then it must be right.
Point number 2, Blame. If everyone points the finger to the Executive branch and to the President and everyone talks about a dismal 28% approval rating, then what about the 12% approval rating of Congress? What about the failure and inability to act on the issues that they were elected to change: gas prices, the Iraq War, terrorism and the economy? What about the only major act of legislation they have thus far, passed was a non-binding resolution to protest the Iraq war. Are the troops home as they promised? Are we still paying $3+ for gas? Is the Army still fighting Al Qaeda? Is the economy teetering on the brink? There is only so much the Executive Branch can do. There is only so much the Legislative Branch can do. There is only so much the Judicial Branch can do. It is spelled out in the constitution in black and white; the separation of powers, not one branch has more power than the other. Therefore, how can it be any one politician’s fault that the United States is perceived as weak.
Point number 3, Perception. Perception is everything, if a candidate or the TV, or a celebrity says the economy is going under, the War on Terror is going badly or someone releases a top ten list poking fun of a person or policy, people will take that literally and not read between the lines. The truth of the matter is that things are not as bad as they seem. With regard to the mainstream media, remember that they are a business and their business is to make money, with that said, every measure must be taken to find out the story for one’s self, not just take things @ face value. Afterall, one should never believe someone who makes money by providing bad news.
Point number 4, Patronize. Republican and Democrat, are on the same page with most issues. If one reads the points from both of their websites and researches their issues, they will find they are in agreement with the major issues that affect the United States. They do differ slightly, but not enough to make a difference. Therefore, no matter who is elected, things will change. What is different about the candidates is that they deliver their points differently, and rally people behind the faux institutions of Republican OR Democrat, Conservative OR Liberal, With OR Against me. They run negative campaign ads because it is all the voter will react to, they say things that make no sense and are grossly inflated all for my vote. If the ads and the campaigning didn't talk down to me, maybe I would get out and vote for one of them.
The public in turn, eats this up, rallies behind their favorite candidate, becomes rude and disrespectful of the other side and further polarizes the country. True, there is something wrong, but it is with them and most who elect them do so on the basis of ignorance. People are fickle, whatever they are fed through the television, their podcasts, their blogs, their radio and god-forbid, they actually read printed media, they will believe. Kang, the space alien from The Simpsons, said it best with regards to the public and the public’s view on elections and issues”
Kang: “Abortions for none!”
Rallying Crowd: “Boo!”
Kang: “Abortions for all!”
Rallying Crowd: “Boo!”
Kang: “Ok, abortions for some, tiny American flags for others.”
Rallying Crowd: “Yeah!”
More seriously, what scares me most is what Benjamin Franklin said: “No outside power, no foreign country will ever defeat the United States. What will tear the country apart will be the citizens themselves.” It is for that reason that I don’t vote.
