For weeks I've been stewing over the fact that political discourse, like rock 'n' roll, is entirely dead. (Don't argue with me about rock 'n' roll, either. Every new rock song sounds exactly like every rock song from fifteen years ago, and if they all sounded like the same good song it wouldn't be so bad. Rock fans just aren't willing to admit that their genre was replaced by disco, then pop, and now rap. It's over.)
Wow, that was some tangent. Anyway, it seems to me that nobody is capable of having an intelligent conversation about politics, because it's turned into a kind of sporting event. Just as you can't successfully argue the benefits of the Red Sox over the Yankees, you can no longer sway anyone in a poltical debate.
I'm not just talking about conservatives, either. From what I've seen, both sides of the fence are completely pig-headed and ignorant. Kerry-worshippers are unwilling to even hear that he has no political agenda or plan to speak of; Bush-worshippers refuse to admit that he is, well, completely awful in every way. And it's no use trying to get through to anyone.
The other day I overheard a guy boasting about his new t-shirt that says "Kerry Sucks." 'Great,' sarcastically thought I, 'that'll start constructive political conversations with strangers.' I imagine him in front of his television on Election Night, big foam-rubber #1 hand at the ready, keg chilled, just waiting for those numbers to come in. Go team!
When Kerry spoke at the Democratic National Convention, I was disappointed by his speech, which mostly consisted of criticizing Bush. "I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war. I will have a vice president who will not conduct secret meetings with polluters to rewrite our environmental laws." Well, duh. I'd kind of hope that goes without saying. Here I was waiting for him to say what he would do as president, and all I'm getting is "I won't screw up in the wide variety of ways that the last guy did" -- certainly an important message, but one that I had already assumed.
But when I brought up these complaints with my (liberal, obviously) friends, they seemed almost offended. "Did you even listen to the speech?" Well, yeah. He didn't say much of anything. I think he doesn't want jobs shipped overseas or something, but that's really not a concern of mine. I'd like to know what he plans to do in Iraq, and with the economy and such. (My friends exasperatingly shake their heads and ignore me.)
So that's what it's all come to. I am left returning to my original postulate: "No matter who we elect president, we're all completely and unredeemingly doomed." America: Land of the Ignorant. We the People are no longer intelligent enough to elect our own leaders.
There's a lot riding on this one, and the polls are frustratingly close, so everybody's all up in each others' grills.
I voted for Dean in the primary, because he had the most well-defined platform and I agreed with most of his stances. But we donated money to Kerry's campaign after he became the front-runner, because it's crucial that anybody who has a shot at beating Bush, and is sane, does so.
Meanwhile, I still blame the 2000 result entirely on Andrew, since he could have voted in Florida but didn't.
Because the Bush administration is so thoroughly awful and incompetent, it doesn't matter if Kerry has an agenda or not. He does and it's published by the Democratic (not Democrat) National Committee, by the way. In fact, it would be refreshing not to have ideologues leading all branches of the national government. Incidentally, I just mailed Andrew instructions on how to get an absentee ballot.
James, as I've said before, even if I had voted in Florida, it wouldn't have counted. And it probably won't this time.
Don't get me wrong, I'm going to vote for Kerry, and entirely because Bush is such a travesty. But that doesn't mean I can't be disappointed in the alternative. I'm not saying he needs to be an idealogue -- I would just like it if I knew what he thought about anything.
Mom, I might come visit you for the election. Hmm, except then I couldn't watch the results on my big TV. Tough decision.
Bigger tv=bigger results?
I still maintain that Florida is ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT, Andrew. Bwahhh ha ha!
To be fair to the people who accused you of not listening to the speech, you in fact did not listen to the speech. You told Julia and me that you already knew it would be bad, then went into the den and turned up your computer speakers.
No, my computer speakers were not turned up. I had a TV in there with the convention on. The volume was down because you guys were watching on Tivo, which as you probably know is on a slight delay from real time. So yeah, I heard the speech and yeah, it was content-free.