04 October 2013

This is my first week as an American citizen. 
It's amazing. Now I can vote in the 
general election -- and for American Idol.
 
  -Craig Ferguson 

This thing of casting votes for "the lesser of two evils" has always struck me as both disingenuous and futile. 

Seriously, what's wrong with us that we are not asking people who have a real willingness to serve (other than just themselves) to run for elective offices? As far as I can see, once Citizens United passed, all hope for elections based on truth just vanished. It's all about who can tell the biggest lies, make the most outrageous and pandering promises, or create the most frightening or jingoistic advertisements and speeches who will win -- and all of those things are facilitated by cash.

To hear some people talk about voting, you'd think they were calling in for American Idol or America's Got Talent. If voting could be done from the comfort of the couch using a cell phone, a lot more people would surely cast ballots ("Great look, but the delivery was pitchy," or "Nobody can out-sing her," or "that was a great performance, and he's gotten so much better"). Where are the discussions about education, health, human welfare in the Great Society? When did we as a nation stop caring about our neighbors, and decide we should just hand over all our controls and wealth to corporations and billionaires?

We need to pay better attention to the money trails as they appear, and we need to ask ourselves seriously if we're up to the challenges of living in a Constitutional republic where representational democracy is the rule of the land. The wake-up call is before us right now.

What will we do with this opportunity?

I'd like to think we're not so short-sighted as to forget what's happened, or so blinded by ideology we cannot set aside labels and look directly at what's going on and hold those who are tearing the nation apart accountable and liable for what they are doing to us. They're hurting the weak, the hungry, the poor, the sick, the elderly.

And they're glad that they're doing it.

Remember this the next time you head to the polls to vote. Vote for people of principle and dedication, rather than these narcissistic, dangerous fanatics. And please, please, please, use your vote to express rational self-interest for yourself and our country.


Excuse me. It's time to change our regularly scheduled programs.
R.B.

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