POL-I-TICS! POL-I-TICS!

[bloodyrosemccoy]

Birthday - Charlie Sheen (actor)
Independence Day (Qatar)
National Day (San Marino)

 

Okay, let’s get something straight.

 

When I mention I support Obama, there’s always a small contingent of people who stand off to the side and sneer, “Politicians are all the same. He’s no better than the rest. They’re all greedy power-hungry bastards who won’t keep their promises.” They see through the bullshit of the two-party system.

 

But they don’t see through their own bullshit.

I would like to take this opportunity to agree that a two-party system is limiting, but this is important: politicians are not all the same, and that if you think they are, then clearly you are not paying enough attention.

 

Yes, politicians are all sleazy and calculating to some extent.  They all pander to the idiot voters, and they all will fall short of the promises they make and the expectations we have.

 

But to say that they all will do it to the same degree, that’s just daft.

 

There are some who are much more competent than others, and some who are more sincere about at least trying than others. There are some who actually seem to hear people outside their own heads and listen to others’ opinions, and may even change their own views* if they realize the first don’t work. Some of them seem to have actually paid attention in college, and may be capable of abstract thinking. They’re still politicians. But they will do a better job in office than the morons who haven’t the foggiest idea what’s going on, or the truly corrupt bastards who want the office solely because they’ll get rich.

No politician will ever fix everything in the world—putting all your faith in one person is pretty shortsighted folks. It reflects a tendency to make it Somebody Else’s Problem, a willingness to dismiss trouble and say “Daddy will take care of it.” But some can do a better job trying than others, and it’s a good idea to put them into office.  Some will listen to your suggestions, too, and thousands of others, and try to figure out a way to synthesize those.  Even if the person is a condescending jerk, or if they make mistakes, they’ll at least put some effort into it—and competent effort.

 

Obama is not perfect. He does not fart rainbows and shit diamonds; he will not draw a flaming sword and slay Famine, Pestilence, and War and even bring Death to his knees; he may not even manage to lower taxes. However, he has started with a plan, he has some ideas and will doubtless have more as new information comes along, and—rather importantly—he seems to have most of his marbles. And while he doesn’t agree with all of my opinions, he agrees with a lot more of them than the other candidates—and I hold these opinions because by damn I think they are right. So hell yeah, I’m voting for one sleazebag over another, because god dammit he is the better sleazebag, and with luck the less sleazy one.

 

Pay attention, folks. They’re not all the same person. This isn’t a race between Jack Johnson and his clone John Jackson. You aren’t going to find the glorious Messiah in any politician. Look at the assortment we’ve got and pick the best. Trust me, they’re not all the same.

 

 

*I hate that this has such a bad rep in politics: that you are supposed to remain mulishly entrenched in your own beliefs even when they are proven stupid. If W admitted he were wrong he’d get his ass handed to him by people who think he’s backing down, even if he changed his mind to reflect new information. I don’t want a politician with an empty mind swayed by the last person theyspoke to, but I also don’t want a politician who sticks with a boneheaded opinion even after numerous flowcharts explaining why it’s stupid. And what the fuck is the point of a politician who's so entrenched in a conviction that they won't listen to the constituents they're supposed to be representing, anyway?

This belief is at the heart of anti-science, too—the whole point of science is to change if you're proven wrong.  The fact that so many people do not understand this makes me very, very nervous,

Comments

[fenmere.livejournal.com]

amen!

[elvenmoon.livejournal.com]

*applauds*

[nobleplatypus]

*I hate that this has such a bad rep in politics: that you are supposed to remain mulishly entrenched in your own beliefs even when they are proven stupid. If W admitted he were wrong he’d get his ass handed to him by people who think he’s backing down, even if he changed his mind to reflect new information. I don’t want a politician with an empty mind swayed by the last person you spoke to, but I also don’t want a politician who sticks with a boneheaded opinion even after numerous flowcharts explaining why it’s stupid.

WORD WORDY McWORD.

I was just talking about this with my dad on the ride home... someone on the radio was gushing about how great she thought it was that Palin Has Convictions And Sticks With Them. But while there's nothing wrong with having convictions (until you decide that everyone should share them and try to have them legally enforced, that is), this notion that compromise is for pussies is one that I find deeply disturbing. Were these people not properly socialized as puppies children?

[shadowofdoubt.livejournal.com]

I like you. <3

[cjtremlett.livejournal.com]

I pull out the "all politicians are scum" line when my dad tries to make me talk politics. He thinks W is a great president and that Palin has foreign policy experience because Alaska's so close to Russia. And does not see the flaw in that argument.

And if I beat him in logic he calls me fat, so I avoid the issue by saying all politicians are scum and then changing the topic.

All politicians are dirty, but there still are better ones. Ones that, for example, know that Iraq and Pakistan don't share a border. Ones who don't think we should come up with excuses for invading other countries.

[satyrblade.livejournal.com]

>W is a great president

I'm sorry, but is he blind, stupid, insane, or a stockholder in defense contractors?

And the mere fact that he calls his own daughter "fat" because she disagrees with his ideas points out the foul taint that has poisoned "conservatism" and our nation for far too long. Don't like what someone says? Insult them! That'll shut 'em up, got-dammit!

[cjtremlett.livejournal.com]

It's my dad. I've gotten to the point where it doesn't bother me any more. I just don't argue with him.

Blind in some ways, yep. Insane? In some ways, definitely. Obstinate and refusing to admit he's wrong? All the time. A lot like W, which is probably why he thinks W is so great.

[satyrblade.livejournal.com]

Because Real Men never make mistakes!

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

Your icon FTW. And also, yes, any jerk who calls his own daughter-- or any woman, for that matter-- "fat" as a way of demeaning her opinons has no right being a father/husband/human being.

[evilcresyluna.livejournal.com]

Ugh, unfortunately the "I'm a local hick just like you, won't get all confuzzled by complicated foreign stuff like geography!" ploy worked wonders for Bush (is it really too much to ask that the 'leader of the free world' is educated and not just zealous? God forbid they have some objectivity!).

plus which, Obama is young and inexperienced at politics, so this makes him 'not ready to lead' whereas because Palin has been soccer mom recently this makes her ready to lead the country if McCain kicks it? Perfect sense!

Christ, I hope Obama wins this election.

[karjack.livejournal.com]

Word, yo.

[peri-renna.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I was just reading someone talking about that sort of cynicism - he called it the fallacy of gray (http://www.overcomingbias.com/2008/01/gray-fallacy.html). Thanks for speaking up against it.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_wastrel/]

Yes. People don't seem to understand that the scientific method depends on falsifiability. They just think "If it's falsifiable, then it could turn out to be false, and that could make me look stupid", and they don't think about how stupid that is. Better ask a question and look stupid for five minutes than not ask it to look smart and spend the rest of your life without knowing what the answer to it is.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

It's always been one of the many weird aspects of that whole anti-evolution sentiment: the claim that since we don't know every mechanism of it yet, the whole thing must be wrong.

Of course, I think that stems from the insistence on infallibility--if one thing is wrong in something you insist is infallible, then you have to throw the whole thing out. But with science, finding a flaw means that you can discard it and replace it. Science is a fine-tuning process, rather than the etched-in-stone ideals of religion.

That also is part of the misinterpretation of the whole concept of "theory"--a theory has to be falsifiable. This is not a weakness; it is a strength, because if you test it and it proves true each time, you've got a good theory; if it's false, you change the theory to strengthen it.

I really do wish we had more politicians who approached things with a scientific attitude: "Well, that didn't work! I guess I'd better try something else!" Wouldn't it be loverly ...

(Sorry; reposted for bad HTML)

[satyrblade.livejournal.com]

YES! Thank you.

Also, as I've pointed out on my own LJ, Obama is literally risking death to be who he is, doing what he's doing. By being the first black(*) man to have a credible chance at becoming president, Obama dares the fates of Lincoln, King, Gandhi and the Kennedys every time he stands in front of a podium. Especially given the yahoo brand of Americana that's passed for "patriotism" these last few years, he is a deeply brave man who's risking himself and his family for the future of our nation. This is politics as usual? Not on your fucking life! If Obama simply wanted power, cash and glory, there are easier, safer ways to get them!


----------------
* - Actually, he's of mixed parentage, but some folks see only "the darker side" of that ancestry - as if it mattered!

PS

[satyrblade.livejournal.com]

http://satyrblade.livejournal.com/224291.html

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

That's another thing I've noticed and the family's discussed--the life expectancy of black leaders can be pretty low, and it's scary. There is no way he doesn't know he's defying death here. That takes some serious guts, and I'm amazed and pleased that someone's willing to step up.

This is Why "Stranglehold" is Banished from My MP3 Collection Forever

[satyrblade.livejournal.com]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNLmi0_216g

It's the cheers that really scare me.

Why he's not in jail, I can't fathom... except, of course, that Ted's right-wing.

If 50 Cent had waved around a Glock and shouted "Suck on this, McCain!" he'd be jailed, dead, or both by now.

I loathe some of my countrymen.

[shadesofmauve]

Thank you. Thankyouthankyouthankyou. I might have to link to this.

[jill-calico.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this. ♥

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

Thank you and amen, my dear. As usual, your entry is Made of Win. Won't you run for office? I'd vote for you any day.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

You would? I wouldn't. I want someone SMARTER ...

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

Oh come on! You're one of the smartest people I know. (Of course, I have friends who say that to me, too, and I'm always appalled. If /I'm/ smart, what does that say about the average level of intelligence..?)