The Politics of Politics. Time to vomit.


 

I’ve been away from this page, but I’m back for a little political commentary.

The politics of politics.  Not a redundancy, but the politicization of everything.  I get the goal of politics is to get your party elected so that you can set the policy that bets represents your constituents and supporters. But that has been coopted to the point where every issue becomes fodder for Beltway pundits looking to score points.  This is not a new phenomenon, the underside of politics in this country  has a rich history, a history as deep and wide as corruption.  Maybe because it is happening today, we seem to think it has worsened.  Perhaps. I think we are at the dangerous nadir of an ignorant misinformed electorate, unfathomable money in politics, the end of democracy, the establishment of an oligarchy, and the politicization of every possible issue or scandal, real or imagined.

I love politics.  I love the gamesmanship, I love campaigns and elections, and I love the strategy.  I hate politics.  I hate the endless babble of beltway talking heads, I hate the idea of fundraising off of a crisis, I hate the pettiness, and I hate the cheerleading media.  I miss real courage in politics.  I miss the idea that our elected officials would put nation first and re-electability second.  If Paul Ryan was courageous, his budget would include income increases, reduction in defense spending, and Medicare and Social Security reform.  Instead his budget was a sop to big Republican special interests.

I hate the role of religion in politics.  The last thing we should care about is how many times our president goes to church.  I saw this week that 53% of people would not vote for an atheist.  I find this strange in that somehow being an atheist is more dangerous than a candidate saying “I feel like God wants me to run for President.”  The idea of religion setting government policy is a dangerous proposition, the theocratic oligarchy.  Sorry, but no good has come from running a country in the name of God or other deity. If the founding fathers realized that God did not belong in the Constitution, it certainly doesn’t belong in public policy.

With the exception of Fareed Zakaria’s GPS, I avoid Sunday Talk Shows.  I do not watch any of the MSNBC, Fox News, or CNN political shows.  I watch BBCA and AJAM for my news and analysis.  Why?  I am tired of the BS, and I am tired of the noise.  I am tired of CNN having a liberal and conservative on to spar and yell.  I am tired of professional pundits on political talk shows spewing the same old drek.  I am tired of the corporate masters running network news and cable news.  I am tired of the evening news being a cross between Extra and pharmaceutical infomercials.

I will never support a Republican candidate that kisses the ass of special interests and social conservatives.  Democrats that run from the Affordable Care Act are gutless.  Congressional oversight?  Might as well make the Keystone Kops the FBI.  The only thing that the electorate gets right is the low approval ratings for Congress; too bad they keep re-electing the same clowns.   

I am disappointed in the ignorance of the electorate and how misinformed the public remains about domestic policy and foreign affairs.  The American people  don’t want to get  entangled in any more foreign wars, yet give the president poor grades in how he has handled Syria and Libya. 

Corporations are people, money is speech, and pollsters set policy.  Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.  I feel the bile rising to the back of my throat. 

When’s the first 2016 debate?  I can’t wait.

Oh by the way, the candidate that said “I feel like God wants me to run for President.” was George W. Bush.  How did that work out?

 

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