I Hate it Here

The title of my post is shamelessly ripped from the comic book, Transmetropolitan, it was the name of the book Spider Jerusalem (the main character, a journalist) wrote where he basically expressed his disdain for everything in his city and country. I have never had a more fitting title for a blog post. As a Poli-Sci major I'm allowed to say this, I hate politics now. I hate them with a word that can only be called 'raging passion'. These aren't politics we see, these are party loyalty festivals. No matter what side you're on, that's what it is. I proudly voted 'Straight Democrat Ticket' in my early voting rather then look into every single position being elected and making a choice based on how I felt about the candidates. I made a choice based on party loyalty, I was sick of Republicans, I didn't want them anywhere near power, I voted all Democrat. My mother is the same way, on her blog she refuses to say a good thing about Obama, to say anything about how this 'birth certificate controversy' was brought up by a lawyer who wanted Bush brought up on murder charges because he thought 9/11 was an inside job and is generally a way to attack Obama for some stupid reason (It is basically trying to insinuate he's not a citizen), and generally refuses to see any decent people in the Democratic party. Of course, I have no moral high ground here, I don't say much good about McCain and all I'll say good about his VP choice is 'she seems like a nice woman' and I'm in no way sorry for that.

Why do I complain then? Because there are two things you can do when you realize that what we have is no longer politics. You can either whine and cry and stamp your foot and refuse to vote or do anything because as you know, you matter so much in the modern environment; or you an whine and cry and stamp your foot, but accept the new regime of politics and try to change it while still holding on to the core ideals of the country. I choose the second one, I choose to believe my vote still counts, I choose to believe it is my civic duty to vote and do all I can to support the people I feel are right, and I choose to believe that one voice can snowball into millions, and get real change. These are stupid beliefs, elections are bought by the media, your average voter who's still undecided at this point has the IQ of a smoked salmon, and when you're pissed off about something all you can do is make sure your message gets out and hope people will stop caring about the new fast food burger or movie star couple long enough to actually read it. People are more worried about High Fructose Corn Syrup then they are about the energy crisis, people are more panicked about the latest celeb caught snorting coke or saying something someone doesn't like then they are about the presidential race, and what pisses me off more, and what makes me write this post, people are more concerned about being SEEN caring then really DOING something.

I don't hate it here, I take it back, here is a pretty damn nice life, I could be in a country where I get shot for calling our leader an incompetent buffoon, I could be a country where I'm told who to vote for and checked on to make sure I voted right, I could be in a country where I have to pick between fresh water or fresh food for the day. Here is pretty cushy. I hate the people here. I hate people who think they're soooo rebellious for wearing a Che shirt but don't even know who he is, I hate people who are more concerned if their protest gets on the news then if it gets their damn message out there, I hate people who scream slogans and buzzwords, be they 'NO BLOOD FOR OIL' or 'SUPPORT OUR TROOPS', and don't know anything about the damn issue, and worst of all I hate people who think anything is an unbiased source. To the few random people that click on my blog, I have an agenda, so does CNN, so does FOX, so does MSNBC, so does New York Times, and so does every other human being. It is impossible to simply state facts now, people don't like saying bad things about things they like. I will always try to justify every flaw Obama has, my mother will always try to justify Palin, the man writing an op-ed will always want to make sure his side is 'right', and the guy who writes the news story about a candidate they support will always try to downplay the problems. The media of any kind will always try to put their spin on it, it's YOUR job as the reader to make your own choice, read the news, hear the news, and take it to form your OWN ideas. Though, I have to say, there is one more thing I hate more then the people here.

I hate the mindsets here. I hate that facts are seen as just extra touches to statements, I hate that we want to elect average people, and I hate that we're all a bunch of freaking hypocrites. We're all guilty of it, I mock Palin's lack of experience while defending Obama's, McCain calls Obama a Socialist like it's a bad thing and then defends the massive banking bailout as just fine, and my mother insists that Palin is a fresh outlook and great for the country while Obama is dangerous for being different. My problem is that people aren't questioned for their hypocrisy any more, because they know their own insanity will be called to question. We're taught since birth that we can do what we want because of a silly title we hold of 'super power', we are taught to give faith in Roosevelt's 'Big Stick Diplomacy' even to this day. We can invade another country basically whenever we feel like it, but not those damn Russians! We can have nukes, we looooooooove our nukes, they make us feel cool, but we don't want anyone else to have them...what if they get MORE then us? We can use 'enhanced interrogation' and constantly just skate the Geneva Convention's rules, but we better not hear about any other people doing it! But wait, it goes down to an even better level, not just nationally, but politically! Republicans can support a bailout of major banks and not be Socialist, but someone says 'redistribute wealth' and he's a filthy Socialist scum. A Republican can change his views on the war, as long as they go from 'we're doing great' to 'we could do better...', but if a Democrat ever says bad he hates the troops. A candidate can be a 'maverick' while selling all his independent ideals out to get the nomination, but if the other guy says one word that's a common platform of his party he's just another mindless drone.

What, you think it ends there? Your country is the best, your party is the best, your state is the best, your city is the best, your sports team is the best, your school is the best, and your SCHOOL'S sports team is the best! These are all drilled into your head at a young age, and what gets me mad, what inspires this post, and what kills me faster then the smokes and fatty foods, is that less and less people question it. Less and less people think for themselves, and more and more people mindlessly parrot information they heard once as infallible fact, and then demand a candidate that's 'just like us'. This is a vicious circle of ignorance, and every four years it gets stronger. I beg you people...just once...let the 'elitist' win, let the 'ivy league snob' win, let the one with 'intellectual smugness' win. Why? Because once in a while they have a damn good reason to be 'smug', they are smarter then you, and me, and the other guy sometimes, and sometimes, we should let the smart guy lead the country, just for a change of pace.