I need to really take a break from watching the news and anything pertaining to politics for a long time. The last couple of weeks have reminded me how political discourse in this country has been distilled down to name-calling and rumor-passing and it hurts me to watch it continue. I love to think voters are capable of making intelligent decisions, but hearing things coming out of the Mountaineer State (WV) such as "Obama's a Muslim" and people voting for McCain if Obama's the (D) nominee because he's perceived as "elitist" just flat-out hurt me.
Obama's an elitist and Hillary Clinton isn't? And John Mccain isn't? These are all people who reside in the upper echelon of power and those two have been in that upper echelon for longer than Barack Obama. Indeed, perception matters in an election, but the reality is far different than the "elitist" lie that is being peddled by certain people about Barack Obama.
Barack Obama is a compassionate and talented leader, something that we haven't seen the likes of in decades. And perceptions of elitism aside, I want a leader, not a Joe Sixpack, to be President of the United States. I like the idea of John McCain and Barack Obama having one-on-one town hall meetings during the campaign. I hope that through those we'll be able to hear very real ideas and not just glossed-over "plans" that politicians are want to mention, but never further elaborate.
I apologize if this post sounds like it's full of whine. It's just that when I read about Senator Clinton banking on a 40-point win and basing it off of the ignorance that she propagates about Senator Obama, the feeling of frustration increases exponentially... and since I'm in Georgia, there's nothing I can do.
Likewise, reading all of this stuff about Marc Dann and my friend Jessica Utovich - totally just... reeks of people just trying to get even with each other. Undoubtedly Marc Dann should resign, in my opinion. He has taken dishonor to a whole new level in state-wide executive office in Ohio... something that Bob Taft should be gleeful about. Yet reading about Guttierez, the relationships, it just reeks of unprofessional conduct and impropriety. It's really sad. I never liked Marc Dann, I voted for Subodh Chandra in the 2006 primary, and I left my ballot blank when it came to choose between Marc Dann and Betty Montgomery, not because I thought he'd bring this kind of behavior to the office of Atty General, but rather because of his disgusting speech he gave at the 2006 OYD convention at KSU and Subodh's masterful speech. Why are we afraid to put people who are BETTER THAN US in charge of making decisions?
I'm just left totally aghast.
-rl
2 comments:
Maybe the politicians don't know how to be honest, but this is an extremely honest blog entry. Thanks for sharing. I think a lot of people feel like you do.
Thanks for the comment, Jill. I'm sure there are people who feel likewise, but there's the pessimistic side of me who also knows that there are people who (a) don't care or (b) think that the status quo is peachy keen.
In any case, I am going to work my butt off to make sure that I can engage people and make them feel like they count - because they do. Otherwise it becomes democratics - the freedom to do what George W. Bush wants (H/T to Lil' Bush for that.)
B'shalom,
Ryan
Post a Comment