TROUBL

Let’s take a step back for a moment from the smiles, slogans and promises. Let’s turn off the hype machine spinning the slightest gestures and misnomers of the pretty politicians in the spot light. Yes, these characters which we call candidates all have their own plans and personalities. They bicker, kiss and make up and then bicker some more. They are the cast of the news networks’ reality television show. But, for the next few minutes, let’s talk about “We the People.”

Bipartisanship is a misrepresentation of the people. It’s that simple. Statistics, polls, primaries, it doesn’t matter. Our opinions do not rate. Ultimately, we will be given our choices on a silver platter and told to swallow one of the two. Later in the year, the media will divide the country into red versus blue. Someone clever will then come along and say it’s really purple. Look, the people in this country do not so easily fall into the conservative versus liberal, Republican versus Democrat agendas. While they may oppose one another on the economy, social issues and (just recently for most) war, there is far too much which is not being discussed to call this election of “change” any more than the latest slogan to sucker us.

First, much like the winner-take-all system of the Electoral College, affiliating yourself with one party can be a disaster in maintaining your free thinking individuality. If you believe in a right to life, automatically you must be against gay marriage and a gun nut. Pro-choice? Congrats, you are now apart of the anti-war movement. Each party stands opposed on dozens of issues, but signing on for any means joining for all.

Second, all issues are not created equal. Yes, abortion and separation of church and state have their rightful places in the election. But, next to war, the economy, education, healthcare, and many others, these issues are second tier. It’s staggering how many people vote on a single issue only. If you are going to vote on a valence issue, such as a family values issue, you might as well just vote based on their good looks or wit. By the way, your candidate of choice will designate most of these smaller issues as states’ rights.

Third, while both sides of Capital Hill, have many a disagreement, they can agree on one thing. They both hate on third parties. A parliament, this is not. Any Independent who has ever stepped into the game has been treated by the Republicans, Democrats, and mainstream media like a bastard, red headed step-child. They are allotted little coverage, if any. Take a lesson from the last couple of election cycles. If you have a fundamentally different message than what’s being sold, you are fucked. Take a gander at the policies of Ralph Nader and Ron Paul. Nader wanted to end corporate entanglement and corruption in Washington while focusing on (the now trendy) green issues. He was attacked by the Democrats because his message would take away votes of the true lefties. To this day they blame him for Dubya getting back into office, even though that’s a load of B.S. Now, Ron Paul wants to shrink government, leave it from regulating peoples’ lives, and protect U.S. sovereignty. He is getting no love from his fellow conservatives. What about the people whose views are not represented at all? Both the so-called liberals and conservatives have their extremes, but apparently there is no time to discuss very real problems in peoples lives, such as the ever-widening poverty gap. Believe it or not, there are many who go through their day without a suit and tie.

Fourth, corporate sponsorship is at an all time high. We have more interest groups and lobbyists in Washington than is worth counting. Pork barreling, earmarks, greasing palms, I don’t care what you call them in their categories. It’s the people getting bent over without warning nor Vaseline. What happens when laissez-faire economics cross with government, corporate CEOs run shit. Take a look at the current administration. Everyone in this election is talking about where their opponents funding is coming from, well let me ask them all. How do you intend to keep your professional obligations separate from private interests when it costs a couple hundred million dollars to run for Presidential office in the first place? We live in a republic. Our representatives have people in their ears all day long who we didn’t vote for. And these bastards have deep pockets. What happened to “We the People?”

Finally, Dubya is leaving the building. Truly this election should be celebrated as one of the worst failures in Presidential history has his run come to an end. We all know how close both the 2000 and 2004 elections really were. However, a little known fact is that in both, over 2/3 of the American voting populace did not vote at all. This means that Dubya waltzed into power with a very small minority of Americans. For those of us who fall into neither category of this election, there is a hefty choice to be made. While this particular election is a charismatic display of political carnival, should one still participate if their views aren’t represented? On the bright side, we will definitely have a new face of representation to lead us, and you really cannot do much worse than a hypocrite “neo-con” with is own agenda. However, is this “change” just wishful thinking, or is it for real this time? The silent masses are disenchanted by their lack of a voice. Is the appearance of a choice really a choice?

Cue the propaganda. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.