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| Which Way Do We Vote George? Which Way Do We Vote? |
The closer we get to solidifying our GOP candidate, the more this reminds me of the South Park episode where the school children had to choose between two very unsavory school mascots aptly named "Giant Douche" and "Terd Sandwich." What does it say about our system when we require more knowledge from someone applying for citizenship, than we require out of our own presidential nominees? What does it say about modern media when Comedy Central seems often, less biased and opinionated than extremely prominent news sources? What does it say about our political parties when we are continually offered the worst and the dimmest as opposed to the best and the brightest, and what does it say about us as citizens who consistently accept our situation and allow this to continue? How is someone getting nominated as a presidential candidate who has, mind you, served in office for years, not even know enough rudimentary high school civics to understand that there is no such law, neither by constitution nor by statute, requiring English as a condition for statehood? Or, how about just keeping track of the 3 government institutions your planning on eradicating? As was the case with Rick Perry. And don't get me started on the whole "Uzbecky Becky Stan Stan" comments from the laughable hopeful Herman Cain or Newt Gingrich's master plan to solve our economic disaster by hiring 12 yr old janitors. I could go on like this for pages, just on the GOP hopefuls in the last year, but I feel as though these incidents should be more than sufficient to convey my point.
Our political electoral system has come to resemble less and less any true evaluation of competence and policies, as was the original intent, while more and more a high school gym class where the bullies perpetually hold all the dodgeballs, while us nerds are left to cower behind the bleachers. I, as a citizen, am absolutely fed up with ignorant and self-serving career politicians. Its high time we as a nation take a stand and set a limit to the amount of total time one can spend in politics, instead of allowing them to hop from one office to the next, totally entrenched. Its time we limit their financial benefits. For instance, why pay congress year round for work they do so rarely. Isn't it conceivable that congress could be considered a second job or like military reserves; 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year. Its time the "common man" held office for the right reasons and then left before falling prey to it's inevitable corruption, and its time that we as citizens accept politics not as a profession for the few, but as a duty and privilege for us all. Some people believe that, much like Switzerland, every citizen should serve their country. Although I don't believe it should be mandatory, I do believe that we should think of politics much in the same light as joining the military, or serving on a jury; a short, unrequited (in terms of compensation) yet necessary civil service to ensure our continued prosperity. Though I do sympathize with the 99%ers, and our common plight, one cannot ensure change merely by sitting on the side of the street holding signs and chanting kumbayah. We must roll up our sleeves, and change the system from within. Take your arguments and debates to city hall. Run for office. Enable real change. Pave the way for the next generation to take the reigns. Then... for your own soul's sake and the good of our country, please, step aside and return to the REAL world.
PS: We may have to declare war on Uzbeckybeckystanstan next.
I heard they have weapons of mass distraction.
When I first started reading this blog, my immediate first though was "Awesome, another rambling student complaining about our national nominees because of a simple slip-up." However as I read on I was pleased to read that this wasn't simply about political blunders or debate bloopers, but rather the impression that these people are making as our leaders.
ReplyDeleteSo Santorum made a live TV oopsie, big deal. But when we look at the big picture of all of these "oopsies" played out by our soon-to-be leaders, I'm left in awe at the stupidity of some of these people. Apparently Obama thinks that there's 57 states in the United States. Apperantly Dan Quale believes that Pheonix is in California. I understand that when giving a speech, these men are under a load of pressure. They are given long scripts and are expected to read them with accuracy. I get it, mistakes happen.
However, when other countries start making fun of your own country because your political leader can't speak proper grammar on live television, you become the laughing stock of the world. It is at this point, that we must take a look at who we are allowing to run our country and reconsider the situation.
This student gives some great ideas on how we can help fight this stupidity that seems to be leading our nation into an unfair game of dodgeball, in which we are the nerds, targets of comedy in the eyes of more literate countries. Just as others have suggested, he suggests that we implement government participation, "a civil service to ensure our continued prosperity." He points out that we currently pay Congress hearty salaries for a few weeks or work out of the year in which they seem to make little progress. Those salaries need to be reduced, and the duties should be placed partially in the hands of the citizens. I agree that we need common men, who are part of our local communities to bring some down-to-earth knowledge to the political arena. This student isn't just encouraging us to vote because our votes matter, he's encouraging us to vote for the sake of our nation. We can't leave it all up to the politicians, who have a hard time remembering the number of the states in this nation. I agree, we need to take some initiative to ensure that our country stays successful.