Elections, voting, and the system
"I'm not sure what'll happen if the trend continues. I think that the people in those blue states will really start to feel distraught, having worked so hard for John Kerry. And then I'm not sure what'll happen--whether they'll wonder what they can do to WIN one of these things, or become cynical with the system..." --More or less a quote from CNN
God, Guns, Gays and Global Good.
There are women on CNN, in the background and out the window, attempting to flash live TV.
I'm posting this before the election results are official, and I don't plan on making an official "look who won" post. Basically the damn thing is coming down to Ohio. When was the last time you fucking hugged Ohio?
All I want to say here is that partisan politics are not killing this country. American politics are not killing this world. The President, no matter who he happens to be, will not be the sole American piece in the global puzzle.
Why does France hate America? You think it's because they believe we're cultural retards? That's probably a part. But we also threatened to change the name of food to show them how we felt about them. It's like we kicked them out of the popular table in Middle School.
Here's what politics are ruining (and I see this around me constantly, no matter if it's 3000 miles or 3 feet): Personal relationships. That's it. Every person who gets caught up in politics is currently either cursing the opposition or glorifying the justice that's been done. And it doesn't matter which side--both are poor losers, and both are poor winners. Conservative, Liberal, right, wrong... these are all based on personal judgments that we invoke and inflict upon one another. Not the nation. Each other. And I'm no different--I'm a moderate Catholic (a bad one, at that) and a teacher. I have such conflicting voices in me that I can't stand EITHER side, and if I see either of them being a sore winner, I'm not moving to Canada, I'm moving to Ireland. At least when two opposing mobs meet on the streets there, they don't solve their problems with campaign signs.
I don't care who wins the presidential election. Don't. The two men who are up for election have their faults, and whoever won, I would not even consider avoiding making fun of him. What I care about is the fact that on Thursday morning, when all of the absentee ballots are in, and all the recounts considered and such, I don't give a fuck who won, I just don't want to hear about it. I don't want to know your candidate won, whoever you are. I don't want you to extol the virtues of the piece of political spectrum in which you currently assume you fit. I don't want to hear about how the country's going to hell because So-and-so won, or how defense would be so much better if so-and-so hadn't lost.
I voted. If that man wins, whatever. If that man loses, whatever. I believed in my vote and will continue to believe in it. And I'm not going to make a thing about it.
I think this all stems from a household where voting was private. Switching from shh-politics to AHH-POLITICS has been a hell of a jump for me. I like to debate, but what nobody understands is that when I do so, none of it is my viewpoint. I don't sit here and talk about politics because I believe in them; I don't believe in them at all. I sit here and talk about politics because I want to make whoever is trying to talk to me consider the way they think. When you hear me express my own opinion, it's rare and unsure, because I'm not comfortable with that. I'm comfortable with making people think. Not making people think what I think.
Whatever you think, someone believes you're wrong. They might be your husband or wife, your mother or father, your son or daughter, or your best friend. And the only flaw any of these people have is believing that beliefs and opinions are concrete facts and that open minds are a liability. I might be wrong.
May the best man win the election. Whoever that may be.
Sleeping,
Charlie
God, Guns, Gays and Global Good.
There are women on CNN, in the background and out the window, attempting to flash live TV.
I'm posting this before the election results are official, and I don't plan on making an official "look who won" post. Basically the damn thing is coming down to Ohio. When was the last time you fucking hugged Ohio?
All I want to say here is that partisan politics are not killing this country. American politics are not killing this world. The President, no matter who he happens to be, will not be the sole American piece in the global puzzle.
Why does France hate America? You think it's because they believe we're cultural retards? That's probably a part. But we also threatened to change the name of food to show them how we felt about them. It's like we kicked them out of the popular table in Middle School.
Here's what politics are ruining (and I see this around me constantly, no matter if it's 3000 miles or 3 feet): Personal relationships. That's it. Every person who gets caught up in politics is currently either cursing the opposition or glorifying the justice that's been done. And it doesn't matter which side--both are poor losers, and both are poor winners. Conservative, Liberal, right, wrong... these are all based on personal judgments that we invoke and inflict upon one another. Not the nation. Each other. And I'm no different--I'm a moderate Catholic (a bad one, at that) and a teacher. I have such conflicting voices in me that I can't stand EITHER side, and if I see either of them being a sore winner, I'm not moving to Canada, I'm moving to Ireland. At least when two opposing mobs meet on the streets there, they don't solve their problems with campaign signs.
I don't care who wins the presidential election. Don't. The two men who are up for election have their faults, and whoever won, I would not even consider avoiding making fun of him. What I care about is the fact that on Thursday morning, when all of the absentee ballots are in, and all the recounts considered and such, I don't give a fuck who won, I just don't want to hear about it. I don't want to know your candidate won, whoever you are. I don't want you to extol the virtues of the piece of political spectrum in which you currently assume you fit. I don't want to hear about how the country's going to hell because So-and-so won, or how defense would be so much better if so-and-so hadn't lost.
I voted. If that man wins, whatever. If that man loses, whatever. I believed in my vote and will continue to believe in it. And I'm not going to make a thing about it.
I think this all stems from a household where voting was private. Switching from shh-politics to AHH-POLITICS has been a hell of a jump for me. I like to debate, but what nobody understands is that when I do so, none of it is my viewpoint. I don't sit here and talk about politics because I believe in them; I don't believe in them at all. I sit here and talk about politics because I want to make whoever is trying to talk to me consider the way they think. When you hear me express my own opinion, it's rare and unsure, because I'm not comfortable with that. I'm comfortable with making people think. Not making people think what I think.
Whatever you think, someone believes you're wrong. They might be your husband or wife, your mother or father, your son or daughter, or your best friend. And the only flaw any of these people have is believing that beliefs and opinions are concrete facts and that open minds are a liability. I might be wrong.
May the best man win the election. Whoever that may be.
Sleeping,
Charlie