Dave's Bi-Annual Political Rant

Yes! It is time for...

Dave's Bi-Annual Political Rant
----------------------------------

I will never understand politics. It's all just games, that I can see. Is there really any difference between the two sides? Ideologically, they differ greatly... but when it comes down to what they actually do, is there really any difference? Bush was a repub, right? Yet he spent dough and acted like an unfettered liberal - made Clinton look like a fiscal conservative. Obama is an unfettered liberal, right? Yet other than the crazy stimulus spending (which was begun by Bush, remember), what has he actually done that has been so liberal? Or more liberal than Bush, or Clinton, or Bush before him?

Is there any difference? There are problems - big problems. There have always been, there will always be. Is the sitting President fully responsible for all the probs? And the current House/Senate? Really? Yet it seems whoever is currently in office gets all the blame... and the solution is said to be elect the other guys. All we heard for 8 years was how awful Bush and Repubs are... solution? Get them out! Change! So the Dems get the White House and a supermajority in the senate, and majority in the House... still big problems. Blame them now! The solution? Elect the Repubs again.

After only one year, no less!

Back and forth. Blame whoever is in charge, then think the solution is to get them out and put the other side in. Rinse, repeat, throw up. They're both the same. They talk different talk, they act the same. They are interchangeable. It's the classic definition of insanity... keep doing the same thing and expect different results. "Elect me! Why? Because I'm not that guy!" Who cares what a person can bring to the table... it's enough that he's not the guy that's in office at the moment.

No, I'm not done with my political rant yet...

This "zero respect" thing for the Presidency has puzzled me for years. People seem to have no problem at all calling the sitting President every name and insult in the book. Again, it doesn't matter who is in charge, the shrieking harpies are out in force, blasting the President for everything, whether it has anything to do with reality or not. When Bush was in charge, it was "Impeach Bush!" "Every time his mouth is moving, he is lying!" "He's a complete idiot!" "He is evil!" "He's a war criminal!" "He's in the pocket of big oil!" And now that Obama is in charge, it's just as loud from the other side. "He's a socialist/fascist/communist!" "He's a complete liar!" "He is Hitler!" "He hates our country!"

Good God, people, dissent is one thing. Blatant disregard for the realities of the issues facing a President and complete disrespect for the office is another. I didn't vote for Obama, but I hope the man succeeds in getting some positive things done for the country. To hear the radioheads, teapartiers and town-hall screamers blab on and on, you'd think Obama was a slavering, evil tyrant whose every step is intended to unravel all we hold dear and plunge us headlong into oblivion. Why is everyone OK with such idiocy?

If there are issues, discuss them like adults. Propose different solutions without acting like schoolkids. How about a little respect for the highest office in the country? Tone down the vitriol and the verbally-violent armchair quarterbacking. The President (whoever it may be) is a person, like any of us, dealing with issues, both domestic and international, that would likely flatten any of us in short order. And he has dozens of such issues, any one of which could make a person's head explode.

Have you seen pictures of Presidents after one term? Looks like they age 20 years. The office is a killer; why anyone would ever want it is beyond me. Anyone who attains it should be worthy of respect and cooperation, not venom and contempt. I doubt seriously that any man or woman has a clue what they're getting themselves into by attaining the office. It shouldn't be that way.

The health care issue is just stupid. Everyone wants to revamp the system. Check that - everyone wants to complain about the health care system and talk about revamping it - but no one wants to do anything about it. Obama wants to overhaul it. Oh, no, the end of the world! He's actually trying to do something about it! Seriously, I don't see what the big deal is. Suggest some changes, discuss it, modify it, pass it, and move on. Why does it have to be such a big mess?

Also, since when does a 19 seat majority suddenly mean you can't get anything done? The health bill is dead because your majority dropped from 20 down to 19? Really? 59 seats vs 41 seats? Throw your hands up and declare the issue dead? Good grief, it's either worth fixing or it's not... you'd think having a 19 seat majority would still mean you could get things done. Since when does such a minority wield such power as to be able to derail any progress?

It's all games.

Hypocrisy, you say? I disrespect politicians, and then rant about lack of respect for the President? None of it makes sense to me either. Someone once said that "politics is just Hollywood for ugly people," and I'm apt to agree, in part. It seems both groups of people are self-important, ridiculously rich, void of substance, and exist mostly just to entertain themselves and us.

My Bi-Annual Political Rant is over. I apologize for any indigestion it triggered. I hope your week is progressing well.