Okay... well... Tonight I watched much of the Republican National Convention. This is the second RNC I have seen now. I was a Junior in highschool for my last one. (I also saw the 2004 DNC where I am proud to say I saw Barack Obama's amazing and inspirational speech which transformed him from a rising star into a rockstar overnight.) I've devoted a lot of interest in politics since the year 2000. I remember it well. I was a mere 7th grader. My mom solidly behind then-V.P., Al Gore. While my dad was firmly behind our current esteemed Leader George W. Bush. Well, being 12 years old, it was a very confusing thing to watch. What did these words- Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives, Liberals, Electoral College... what did it all mean? Well, here I am 8 years later and I still don't know. However there are some observations that have structured my mentality.
The whole process is B.S. (so to speak). This country is run by a 2-party system. And niether of those parties do this country justice. Republicans nor Democrats have stuck to their roots since the foundations of their respective Parties were formed. And niether is what they claim to be, even today.
How can you claim to be a Conservative when you refuse to acknowledge the impending threat of Global Climate Change (A.K.A. "Global Warming") ?? How can you claim to be a Liberal when you refuse to stand up for the rights of unborn children??
I'm not saying everyone involved with politics is evil. But the VAST majority is rampantly biased and blatantly corrupt. I'm simply saying the system is filled with contradictions and inconsistencies. Not just the people who run. Not just the people directly involved in their campaigns and/or administrations. Also, the news/media that covers them. Major television stations, newspapers, and MAJORLY biased with a not-so hidden agenda. They attempt to brainwash the general population into voting for their candidate.
I wish I could say that I am completely unbiased, but I find myself constantly rooting for Democrats. On Election Day of '04 I found myself glued to the TV screen all night praying that Kerry would win. I was so shocked to discover Bush claimed re-election that I wanted to cry. I was so angry that I found myself on internet political message boards and chatrooms as a 16 year old boy completely bashing Bush out of shear anger and resentment for the fact that he won. I scoff when Right-wing media based "crazy lefties." Sometimes when even justified. However, when the shoe is on the other foot, deep down inside I get a warm and fuzzy feeling when something politically-damaging happens to a Republican.
--i.e. Alan Keyes--- Keyes is an extremely conservative man who ran against Barack Obama in the 2004 Illinois Senate race. The winner of this election would become the 1st African-American in the U.S. Senate. the race was supposed to be "ground breaking." In my opinion... he is a far right extremist. He is a religious fanatic who Gay bashes. Not only was Keyes an extremist... he was simply foolish. He makes blatantly inappropriate and prejudicial remarks like it's nothing. He even had the audacity to question Barack Obama's African heritage. Needless to say, he lost the election to Obama in a wide margin. Soon after, Keyes' daughter came public and told the public she is gay. And same with Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter... I found great, great joy in both of these events.
Anyhow... the point I was trying to make is that I can be biased too. I know that I shouldn't find joy in unforunate things that happen to others, but sometimes I do anyway. If I was a politician running for office, I'm afraid I would likely end up running a smear campaign to win. Because simply, that is the only way to win in the American Political Landscape. People seem to think the ends justify the means. As much as I hate to say it... they do. You have to sacrifice your integrity to do good things in a position of power. News organizations like CNN, MSNBC, and FOXNEWS call presidential elections the same way ESPN would analyze a basketball game. And that, my friends, is extremely unfortunate. When the media stops talking about the issues that matter, and INSTEAD discuss stategy. Aren't WE, THE PEOPLE supposed to be the ones reading between the lines??? Why does out trusted news stations attempt to do that for us??? No wonder so many American don't bother to show up to vote... how would they know who to vote for unless they devoted any time into research....
I consider myself to be someone who always reads between the lines. And in the case of CNN and FOXNEWS, I have read between the lines of them reading between the lines. I personally having trouble constructing solid opinions and views on the issues. But I will say this. I do believe this Bush Administration is a complete and utter failure. Their incompetence and out-right deception has led to massive damage. We have failed in the war in Afghanistan against the dispicable people who attacked us on 9/11/2001. This is probably because we decided to invest our manpower and finance into a pointless war in Iraq. No, Saddam was no nice guy. But I can name 10 countries who massacred their own people worse. And this presidencial administration turned a blind eye on them to focus on Saddam's Iraq. Powered by bogus facts and testimony. I was a supporter of John Kerry in 2004 and I am currently an Obama supporter. McCain seems to be a typical Republican who will continue to seperate the divide between the rich and the poor. John McCain is a war hero. But that doesn't automatically make him worthy of being the head of the Executive Branch of our government.
I see through Barack Obama's aura. People look at the man in awe as they would JFK, RFK, MLK, Malcolm X, etc... but the fact is that Obama is only where he is today because he was incredibly lucky. Don't get me wrong. I think Obama's story is amazing. He is a true beacon of the American dream and is an amazing individual. In fact he is a great man. an even more amazingly eloquent speaker. He inspires people as well as anyone in the history of mainstream politics. he is a beaconing symbol of hope. And change. He seems like he speaks as personal and as clearly to the American people like no one else except maybe Bill Clinton.
BUT... the fact is that Obama is not much more than an amazing talent who represents the agenda of the Democratic Party. He was very VERY fortunate. Obama was originally to face a popular IL Republican in his bid for the U.S. Senate. But the Republican incumbant Jack Ryan (before Keyes replaced him) dropped out of the race after a divorce scandal with his ex-wife was made public. Apparently, he was pretty perverted... pressuring unwanted/un-Christian-like sex acts upon his wife and pressuring her to go to orgies with him. Yes, I took pleasure seeing another "true religious and white collared Republican" disgracefully fall from power. Obama was the perfect person to fit the image of the people Democrats reach out for to votes. I'm sure there are plenty of people just as capable of being President. Obama earned everything in his life... until he ran for state office. He is the perfect example of an affirmative action hire. There are, likely, better people better equipped to be President. But I do believe one thing. It is not a Republican. and it is not John McCain.
Obama is not a bad choice. Obama is not a war-mongerer. He would rebuild our international image. His approval rating in Europe is in the 90th percintile (And in France I believe it is 98%). He rose from the ghetto of the South-side of Chicago and ended up getting an Ivy-League education at Harvard. He was against the Iraq War even when it was popular. He said
"I am not opposed to all wars. What I’m opposed to is a dumb war."
He (and when I say "he" I mean the Democrats) has a better idea of how to run the country. And into the future. He has vowed to find and kill the terrorists (the ACTUAL terrorists) who plot to kill us. And Osama Bin Laden, who Bush once even said that he 'wasn't concernered with him' anymore. Republicans say he will raise taxes. But the fact is that he will cut them for 95% of all Americans. At the RNC I'm pretty sure it was Mitt Romney (or Rudy Guilliani) who said that the idea of America is supposed to be people earning money and not sitting around waiting for the government to bail them out. This proves to me that Republicans have completely lost touch with the general American public. People are suffering because of a struggling economy. I think we are currently spending roughly $12,000,000 per MONTH in a pointless stalemated war in Iraq- since '03. No wonder people can't pay the bills and are losing their homes even with 2 or 3 jobs... McCain talks about cutting wasteful government spending.... well then why can't he cut out the greatest expense of all and use some of the 10 BILLION dollars domestically??? Even the Iraq government we set up agrees more with Obama's plan of responsible withdrawl as opposed to McCain plan of long-term occupation.
Okay... so I'm getting a bit carried away. Since it's 3:35 in the morning I think I'm going to turn off the re-run of the Republican National Convention and turn on something a little less whitebred and rednecky. Like CMT...hah.
So long!
