Politics and Culture - American Profiles In Radical Independence

“I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

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Problems With Our Government? Problems With Election 08? Problems? What Problems?

October 25th 2008 16:28

"Political parties exist to secure responsible government and to execute the will of the people. From these great tasks both of the old parties have turned aside. Instead of instruments to promote the general welfare they have become the tools of corrupt interests, which use them impartially to serve their selfish purposes. Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics, is the first task of the statesmanship of the day."

~Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
"The Progressive Covenant with the People" speech (August, 1912)

As the fanaticism grows I can't help but to watch in shame as the clock ticks until we cast our ballots to elect the leader of the next chapter in American history. In these times of strife and hardship I'm not understanding how our national media who were appointed as the protector's of the people by our Constitution can sit by hurling spit balls, fanning the flames and projecting spotty data while our country is ripped and torn by the things that separate us rather than informing the masses of the deep and important decisions they have to make Tuesday, November 4th.

With Polls that are inaccurate in close contests as there only evidence, American anger with our government is strong and apparent. This same data can be collected with the numbers of Americans who lost their homes thanks to the backroom deals organized by our Congress or the numbers of people who have lost their jobs or can't find work thanks to the domino effect caused by a financial crisis that could have been averted with a government that chose to represent the people through legislation, rather than working hard to reward the special interests who gave them the money that helped them win re-election bids.

The more Presidential advertisements I have hurled in my face, the more I am coming to the realization that our government is never going to work until we truly push the buttons that need to be pushed and take back the rights afforded to us in the Constitution of having direct control of our Government.

The thing that is really burning me is the fact that every four years we get a candidate that speaks to the American Public from somewhere outside of the box and embodies everything that needs to be said. While these candidates sometimes come in the form of third party figures and are almost always relegated as being "out there" or a "non factor"; there is most always a policy that is gobbled up by the major parties or something that is said to make the American people think.

This is the first election year where these voices were squelched and we were truly given a two party monopoly throughout the election proscess conducted by a media that was explicitly given the Constitutional Rights of Freedom from government control to stop this very thing from happening.

It's important to note that both Barack Obama and John McCain speak for the voice of Independence and getting past partisan politics but it doesn't parlay the fact that the forces around them are doing everything possible to not allow this election to be about Independence and Change but rather a continuation of more of the same….

I'm not going to speak from ignorance and say that an Obama or McCain presidency will be a continuation of the deadlock we currently have in the Executive and Legislative branches of government, but it will take more than a change of the drapes in the Oval Office for us to dig out of the desperate hole our government officials have dug us into.

It took a national disaster for Americans of every race, gender, sexual orientation and political belief to finally lay down their anger and misunderstandings grieving together as a nation and it shocks and saddens me that we can't step back during the most crucial decision in our nations history and just lay down the issues to elect the next leader of the free world.

I could maybe understand the fanaticism if this was a choice between a Far left or Far Right wing candidate against a moderate of either party but the lunacy that is happening around this election is based around the unavoidable powder kegs our nation has never been able to stomach in her 232 year history.

A political race based around a nation in desperate need of her political leaders to step up and reach across the aisle has become a Royal Rumble free for all based around Religion, Gender and Race. I'm sorry to say it and I tried to convince myself this wasn't the case as I had more faith in my country to get past this but the ignorance in this nation has bubbled to the surface when the contrasts between the candidates became unclear and true independents started looking and not seeing how our nation would be different after either McCain or Obama puts his hand on the bible and takes the oath of office in January.

I don't want my decision on November 5th to be based on catch phrase politics, my race or fear but these are the cards that have been handed down to me in this political season and I lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of Barack Obama and John McCain. While these men had no choice to accept their party's nomination in order to be taken seriously in the modern electorate, they should have taken the bull by the horns and been the leaders we expected them to be by being the alpha male of the their political campaigns. Once Obama embraced the Clinton wing of his party his tone became the party line as well as McCain who laid down for the Evangelical vote through outrageous statements that sharply contrasted the Maverick who was loved and respected by Red and Blue voting Americans coast to coast.

I know in my heart, the men that John McCain and Barack Obama are and the thought of one or the other in the Oval Office puts a smile on my face and gives me a ray of hope for the future. What brings a tear to my eye is the state this election is putting my country through and the fear of what is to come after the election and things get worse for our nation because their will not be "quick fix" and one side or the other will raise their arms in anger further dividing our country and ultimately digging our financial and social divide hole deeper....

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