Election Blues

It's only a year away, and I'm starting to dread it all over again. Before I was able to vote, I had no real opinions in regard to Politics; in fact, I'm pretty certain I cared more about my telephone than who would be the President or knowing the difference between a Republican and a Democrat. 8 years later, I'm hoping that the Presidential vote I cast will actually make a difference. I have yet to cast a vote for a winner in the Presidential elections (even the Primaries).

What bothers me the most about this next year is how closely I have to pay attention. Who the heck actually wants to pay attention? It's tiring.

In 2003 I was glued to CSPAN, taking notes all the time. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, Kerry became the Democratic Nominee, and I became lost. Who voted for him? And, more importantly, what did the media do to Dean? And, then, Bush was re-elected. I remember the next morning being on the Long Island Railroad and saying something pretty cruel to a friend on the phone, "Perhaps now we have a better chance of seeing him get shot on National Television." The lady next to me went nuts, threatening to beat me up (she was about 45 years old). She handed me a book on Christianity and said I should stop reading my History books and read something worthwhile.

Welcome to 2004. That afternoon several of my friends and I mourned at an apartment nearby our school. The city seemed to be in remorse, wondering what else we could have done.

In 2000 I was living in Florida. This little fact is not something that I regularly like to admit, as Americans like to believe that EVERY county in Florida had problems voting. Also, knowing what happened in Florida, and the number of citizens that weren't able to vote, made me ashamed to live there. I did, though, cast a vote for Al Gore. I'm pretty certain that I was the only member of my family who did cast a vote for Al Gore. One brother voted for Ralph Nader while the rest of the siblings.... who knows. But, seriously-- what happened that year? And, more importantly, where were all of you during the debates? Did you not see George speak? When did being a Christian become enough reason for a vote? No more abortion, no more gay marriage, and let's go kill a bunch of Iraqis?

(Speaking of which, although "An Inconvenient Truth" is a great movie in regard to Global Warming, how many of you felt like shit for not voting for our buddy Al Gore? He sure wanted to rub your face in the shit-hole you put us in.)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, here we are: it's 2007 and 2008 is slowly creeping it's ugly head up. I started buying the New York Times, reading The Economist online, reading Reason online, and then (of course) Googling the news. Pretty soon that rage will light up again, and I'll be full of the Political Fury I hate so much.

I remember it clearly: I am walking through Madison Square Park and there is some Army thing going on there. Bloomberg gets out of this black SUV within about 20 feet of me. I'm wearing pins that are all Anti-Bush (and maybe my "Bush is a Liar!" shirt). I take a good look at Bloomberg and of all the things I could scream at him, I simply stick up my finger and walk away. As I am approaching my school I think about walking back over to the Park and instead I realize that I must stop caring so much. When I moved to California I stopped reading the news for a pretty lengthy period of time. It was important for my sanity, as what I believed was stupid always took the best of me.

Hillary. Obama. Edwards.
That Libertarian running as a Republican.
A Third-Party vote.
I'm already confused.
Just call this the Election Blues.

Where are we going?

Since I don't have a television, I hooked my laptop up to our projector and streamed cspan for George W. Bush's recent speech. Because we enlarged the tiny window on our massive wall, his facial expressions were not clear. Perhaps this is why I can safely say, "His annoying smirks did not make me throw stuff at the screen."

We listened to his new plan quite intently, often questioning if he heard any of the American people, or if he went deaf by all of the Americans surrounding the White House chanting, "No More War, No More War, No More War." Then I remembered that I didn't see any news articles about huge rallies outside of the White House, well, not recently at least.

What are we doing these days? I know that I'm tucked away in my apartment, chain-smoking as I read more and more news clippings about the possible outcomes of Iraq. The other day I drove down a road nearby my apartment that is always busy with restaurant and bar goers. There were about 30 people standing on the side-walk with signs that read, "No More War", "Stop Bush", "Peace!", etc. I honked my horn in recognition of their efforts.

I honked my horn...
What is that? When did that become an acceptable means of protest? When did we stop showing the Government what we want and let the polls do their work? Obviously they don't do the trick.

I recently read a news article in the New York Times' Week in Review by Hellene Cooper titled, "The Best We Can Hope For". She explains that the best we can possibly hope for in Iraq is a Civil War, while the worst we can hope for in Iraq is nuclear war. Better yet, Civil War is inevitable, while nuclear war is slightly possible.

On that same page is an article titled, "In the Land of Bold Beauty, A Trusted Mirror Cracks". Apparently Brazil is no longer a place that accepts the fleshy women with bottoms. Anorexia is on the rise. Since I don't live in Brazil, and better yet- have never been to Brazil-I don't know if this idea of fleshy women was ever embraced. Our mass media has always told me that it's true, but when did it alter?

All of these things confuse me. I feel like I'm on an express train to hell, and there is no getting off. Did we sign up for this ride? I don't remember reading about this in the brochure. My young days of bright hope have been darkened with reality. And, frankly, I'm scared shitless to have children.