POL-I-TICS! POL-I-TICS!
Sep. 3rd, 2008 05:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bloodyrosemccoyBirthday - Charlie Sheen (actor)
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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.
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.
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,
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,
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Date: 2008-09-04 01:11 pm (UTC)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!
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* - Actually, he's of mixed parentage, but some folks see only "the darker side" of that ancestry - as if it mattered!
PS
Date: 2008-09-04 01:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-04 08:04 pm (UTC)This is Why "Stranglehold" is Banished from My MP3 Collection Forever
Date: 2008-09-04 09:26 pm (UTC)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.