Polls are being taken, the conservative talking heads are spewing, and the media is in full tilt propaganda mode, and all of it in an ever increasing manner, is attempting to generate a scandal of some sort out of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, that will reflect poorly upon the President Of The United States.
Increasingly it appears to me that the media and its sheeple are losing focus on just what has caused all of this to happen in the first place, and while that in itself is scandalous, it is not the scandal I hope to focus upon in particular. (Although in my mind it is a symptom of this scandal, as I will attempt to explain).
The scandal I want to draw your attention to encompasses the lion's share of our government and the political process itself; indeed, it has become so prevalent within the very fabric of our political process and society in general, that I dare say a majority of you reading this will dismiss it offhandedly as the musings of some deranged individual. (Which I may very well be by the time I complete this).
This insidious shift in American politics and society began with our election of an actor as president back in 1980, and the resulting policy by folk tale approach he brought to the system. His handlers knew all too well how badly America wanted to see order restored to the nation, after enduring a decade of social unrest and upheaval, (The 60's), followed by another decade of trying to figure out what the heck it was that the decisions the 60's implemented really meant to us as a society and within our personal lives.
They found a gem in Ronald Reagan, and they knew darned good and well that with his ability to orate in a manner that instilled trust from the common man, most of them would go right along with the plan s to conduct gratuitous assaults upon the poor, exaggerate the sins of the welfare state, enact domestic policies that tilted heavily in favor of the economic elite, and bust up the unions; all on the back of the poor working stiff as their income stream obtained a strong resemblance to a dead mans EKG.
The whole time he was reaching into their wallets, purses, bank books, and pay checks, Reagan was able to divert the common mans attention by promising to take up the cause of the hard working man who obeyed the law, raised his family, loved their country. The amazing part to me is that it worked so well that despite their shrinking paychecks, the more his opponents complained the louder the common man railed against them. And it worked in another way as well, because the Republican Party at that point realized that the baby boomer generation had once again demonstrated that they are a demographic to be reckoned with. And they used that fact to their political party's advantage all during the Regan administration; which is the milestone for the start of the transformation of our politics and society.
Regan's utilization of polarizing rhetoric and politics via resentment, achieved the magic formula that politics had been looking for; providing them with a template with which to conduct a stunning string of successful campaigns over the ensuing 3 decades. And while their last run at the white house may have been a failure if one strictly measures success by a win or lose yardstick, when you consider the unprecedented level of gridlock going on within our government right now has anyone really won?
Over the ensuing 3 decades since Reagan left office, the conservative sector of politics took full advantage of the example he had provided them with, giving rise to people like Gingrich and Rove, spewing emotion laced and polarizing rhetoric that was designed to do the very same thing; appeal to the common man and take full advantage of the fact that he is angry over his inability to get ahead and provide a better life for his family.
Using the lynchpins of religion and taxation, they erected legions of straw men before the common folks to divert their attention from the fact they were practicing the very type of politics their increasingly negative campaign adds accused their opponents of.
It all came to fruition during the terms of Bill Clinton, who despite their tsunami of mudslinging rhetoric, found himself in the Oval Office for successive terms. And at that point is when the real skullduggery began.
What followed was a never-ending stream of accusations, political propaganda, and obstructionist politics, the likes of which had never been seen before in the history of this nation. Every word and action of the president was subjected to intense examination and analysis, and with the explosion of the internet, a new venue with which to disseminate misinformation, highlight the mundane, and exaggerate the absurd, an every increasing and virtually pliable constituency to be herded toward the cliff.
Democrats were unsure of themselves, most of them resembling the deer you see in your headlights just before you smack them with your car; frozen, scared stiff, and unable to respond. However, if there is one thing a congress person can do, it is take notes; and a lot of them at the top of the organization were watching closely and keeping a running tab on who did what, and how it was achieved; and before you knew it the democrats were running the same exact plays on the republicans, and thusly our government gave life and legitimacy to the practice of winning office on the record(s) (public and private) and mistakes of your opponent(s) while burying your own.
In the past decade I have watched and dreaded each and every election that has taken place. While I have always considered the majority of the elections I have voted within a frustrating choice of the lesser of two or more evils, lately it has become more a case of who can dig up, or increasingly make up, the most dirt about an opponent with which to bury them. The focus has now been placed upon whichever candidate has the least amount of dirt upon them, rather than which one has the best ability or best record. They highlight the worst and we decide on that alone, and in the process our personal lives begin to reflect those exact same values.
As both parties have grown, they have expanded toward ownership of media outlets, web pages, and other sources of communication, and both of them use these to their fullest advantage.
By employing outspoken individuals who may or may not, (depending upon your perspective), be personable or engaging, these individuals engage in propaganda campaigns that would make Hitler proud, spewing half truths, and in some cases outright fiction, and all designed to emotionally engage and sway the audience, and make them forget that the only reason they are saying what they are is to obtain sponsorship and increase their ratings. A lot of them even write books, so how much does that impact their willingness to prostitute themselves to the highest bidder?
Politics have divided this country and continues to divide this country. The difference between 1776 and 2010 is that instead of a government by the people and for the people, we now have a government that cares only about itself and the economic elite. Instead of the vote of the people determining who represents us in government, it is now s/he who can garner the most corporate and economic elite sponsors, and make up or dig up the most dirt on an opponent. Instead of our elected officials enacting legislation that is representative of the issues and challenges we face within our private lives, they enact legislation that will line their pockets and support the corporation.
Instead of working for their constituency our elected officials are busy covering their respective asses, engaging on obstructionist politics, and conducting/ funding recon missions on their political opponents. And the judicial branch of our government is not innocent in all of this, with its recent decision to grant individual rights to corporations, which is only going to magnify the problems moving forward.
No longer can we discuss our differences with an eye toward compromise or the obtainment of common ground; within our personal or professional lives, nor within our government. This disease we seem to have contracted has now spread to the average wo/man and it has become a pandemic for which it would seem there is no cure known to humankind, short of war.
Wars have been fought over far less. Have we not learned the lessons of history? Apparently not.
Right now this country is facing an environmental disaster that is the largest in its history, and even this level of threat fails to polarize this country toward a common goal. And even this level of disaster is not immune from the partisan disease this country is dying from, yes, I said dying.
It is clear we are rapidly becoming that which the founders of this country feared the most, and yet the majority of us seem to be content with watching it happen; indeed, many of us perpetuate it by engaging in it. (This writer included).
I don't know about the rest of you, but I could not care less about what politician slept with who, or what their sexual orientation is, or if they smoke pot or drink grain alcohol. I do not care if they dodged the draft, got a thousand deferments, or if they took out a regiment of Iraqis or ran like a little girl from 2 of them. I do not care if they worship a Sonny doll, Jesus Christ, or no one at all. I don't care if they smoke, or if the have oral sex with a page, prostitute, goat, sheep, blow up doll, or cow. I don't care if they saw an alien or believe in aliens. I don't care if they ran naked through central park in a raging blizzard, screaming I am gay at the top of their lungs. And I really don't care to hear about their opponents doing it either.
What I do care about is electing an individual to represent me in government that understands the challenges my neighbors and I face in trying to navigate through this thing we call life. I want them to work hard to enact policies that make sense, that uphold those ideals that will support the majority of Americans and assure the future for our posterity and ourselves. I want clean air and water, a means to protect myself and my family along with the ability to utilize it, and I want a voice in the direction this country takes in all things, (it is called a vote), that carries more weight than some pulse less entity called a corporation with deep pockets.
I expect honesty and accountability from my elected officials at all levels of government, whether I voted for you or not. Your private life is your problem and your karma, not mine and certainly not this country's, but while you are representing this nation/state/county/town, etc., you will conduct yourself in an acceptable manner at all times, just as I am expected to do in my own professional life.
I am tired of this thing you folks are calling the campaign, because it does not address YOUR ability to do the job you want to do, it is clogging up the system and impeding progression toward addressing the needs of the voting public of this nation, and it NEVER ends!
In the NEXT election I am enacting a personal policy that will not allow me to vote for any candidate, regardless of affiliation, that runs a campaign that utilizes negative adds and messages. In the case wherein no candidate meets this qualification I will write in my vote of "none acceptable", and expect that the process will start all over again, with new candidates at the "redo" election.
Get busy or get out. THAT is the message ALL of us need to send our government representation. And leave the trash at the curb!
I agree with 100% . But I'm going to make it simple. I'm going to vote straight Democrat. Voting Republican is like have a barrel of beautiful luscious apples and in the middle of that barrel you put one dead rotten stinking apple. Very soon you have a whole barrel of stinking rotten apples. That party, The Republican Party is not good for the working man and woman. :icon_evil: :icon_evil: :icon_evil: :yes:
None of them seem to have our best interests in the forefront of their minds anymore! :icon_evil: