Politics... boo.
In the last days grinding ever so slowly toward midterm elections, I find myself disgusted with politics, politicians, and especially the election process. This is not a new feeling for me, nor is it for many others.
This morning I had a VERY brief conversation with one of the faculty members over John Kerry's comments about soldiers. Being liberal, he defended Kerry and the eventual explanation that it was all just a joke and that he had simply misread the notecard. I responded that he shouldn't have been dumb enough to even TRY such a joke in a climate where EVERY LITTLE THING YOU SAY IS RECORDED AND BROADCAST TO THE WORLD and politicians are out to slam each other whenever possible.
It's no longer about politics, really--it's about smearing the reputation of the other candidate. We are bombarded with ads and news feeds about things the candidates said or did 30 years ago that have NO bearing whatsoever on the election. I honestly couldn't tell you what most of them believe in or stand for or how they would vote, but I do know that they called a black man a "nigger" in the 60's, when the term was still acceptable. Of course, that information is conveniently left out of the smear ad. And the "guilty" party is forced to backpeddle and try to explain himself. And there is still NO discussion of politics.
Ultimately, I'm afraid that the current climate of over-kill news feeds and smear campaigns will just create an entire generation of apathetic voters (if our generation chooses to vote at all).
This morning I had a VERY brief conversation with one of the faculty members over John Kerry's comments about soldiers. Being liberal, he defended Kerry and the eventual explanation that it was all just a joke and that he had simply misread the notecard. I responded that he shouldn't have been dumb enough to even TRY such a joke in a climate where EVERY LITTLE THING YOU SAY IS RECORDED AND BROADCAST TO THE WORLD and politicians are out to slam each other whenever possible.
It's no longer about politics, really--it's about smearing the reputation of the other candidate. We are bombarded with ads and news feeds about things the candidates said or did 30 years ago that have NO bearing whatsoever on the election. I honestly couldn't tell you what most of them believe in or stand for or how they would vote, but I do know that they called a black man a "nigger" in the 60's, when the term was still acceptable. Of course, that information is conveniently left out of the smear ad. And the "guilty" party is forced to backpeddle and try to explain himself. And there is still NO discussion of politics.
Ultimately, I'm afraid that the current climate of over-kill news feeds and smear campaigns will just create an entire generation of apathetic voters (if our generation chooses to vote at all).