Thursday, October 9, 2008
I remember laying on the floor back in 1984, eyes glazed over by the relentless boredom that was being drilled into my head by the two men arguing on stage. Two ancient men, by my reckoning, droning on and on about politics and the economy and a host of other things that I couldn't possibly care less about. Just a bunch of stuffy old dudes blathering their platitudes. Where were the lightsabers? Where was the excitement? Seriously, who could possibly give a shit about this?
Flash forward to modern times and I find myself transfixed by the same displays, transfixed with that same glassy stare, but at last understanding what all the hullaballoo is about. I never thought I'd reach the day where politics was interesting, but hey, I guess we all grow up some time.
In all honesty, I've tried to avoid writing about politics on this site. Political opinion is just that, opinion. What I may think or believe is inherently personal and it's really not my place to stuff my thoughts down the throats of others.
Of course, when we're discussing politics in modern day America, there are only two thoughts of belief. (Apparently) You are either a red-blooded Republican patriot who loves our country, supports our troops and believes that America is the greatest country on Earth. Or you're a liberal, a moist and mucilagenous being that feeds on the energies of pure hatred: hatred of America, hatred of our troops, hatred of babies and peace and love and capitalism.
I used to find these divisions amusing. It was entertaining watching the right-wing element of this country rise to power. It began slowly enough, just a radio show here and there, feeding its listeners on a diet of hate and vitriol until they successfully demonized the other side.
Look, current politics dictates that we're primarily a two party system. (Though in reality they're just two sides of the same coin.) But the way it's portrayed in our media, there is only one side. Because one side stands for all that is good and the other apparently wants to destroy the world, enslave the American people and deny Christ.
Really? Have we been so mislead in this country that overly emotional sentiments like that can actually affect public discourse?
Have you watched ANY "news" in this country the last few years? It's nothing but talking heads arguing the same things ad nauseum with nothing useful ever coming from it. It's all a game of who can yell the loudest. We all know that the louder you are, the more truth you're telling.
It's fine to have differing opinions, that's one of the beauties of having free speech. We all have the right to disagree. But all of this sensationalism is terrible for the American people as a whole and our country and culture in general.
Don't take this as me pointing fingers at the right. The left is every bit as guilty of these tactics, only they don't have as strong a voice in the media, despite what the right would have you believe.
The right owns talk radio. They have columnists in every newspaper. The media in general tends to be centrist or at least slightly right of center. But anything that doesn't fall directly within the parameters set by these talking heads is considered "far left" and "dangerous".
Lines of division have been scored deeply into the flesh of America and our media pushes us all ever closer to a teetering point.
Life is not always about black and white. You cannot sum up the entire breadth and range of political thought with buzzwords like left and right.
Your side is not always right. NOBODY'S side is ALWAYS right.
Obama, to the best of my knowledge, does not actually feast on the blood of infants, nor does he have any plans to open a series of "McBortion" clinics offering coffee, fries and baby killing. I don't think he intends to declare himself Fuhrer and set the Constitution alight, either.
And for that matter, I don't believe that McCain has any intention of surviving his term, nor do I think that Sarah Palin "knocked it out of the park" at the debates or otherwise has the experience in the public arena to actually lead this country.
Sigh. I tried to stay away from personal politics, but I guess my seething hatred of the right at the moment shone through. But guess what? I'm NOT a "liberal"! (Shhh!!!) Just because I don't like McCain doesn't mean I love Obama, just that I don't like McCain.
But you know what? I'll listen to what anybody has to say about McCain, I'll take their information, process it, do some research and (gasp) FORM MY OWN OPINION about things instead of just basing my life on the talking points of the various talking heads that make up our modern media.
Okay, this really was nothing more than a rant, but like I said, I've tried to avoid going political, but with things as charged and heated as they are currently in the USA, it's hard to keep my mouth shut.
P.S. If you want to see just how horrifying American political discourse has become, check out either: Sean Hannity's forums or any of the talkback on Digg.
Truly scary stuff.
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