My political rant...

Black and white? I don't think so.

There is a whole lot of grey matter in this election, and it's even between the President's ears (shock). Now, you may be one of those handful of people who haven't made their decision about who to vote for in a few weeks.

As shocking as it may sound, some of these people exist.

But overwhelmingly I think this country is full of people who aren't comfortable with either candidate and are choosing between the lesser of two evils. Sure we'll back up our candidate for the purpose of looking united, but it seems (to me at least) that most of us are just trying so make sure that the other guy doesn't get elected.

Maybe this has been politics as usual for decades. Maybe I'm just saying something we all know, but essentially ignore because it's so obvious. Like how you don't need to say "left foot right foot" to keep yourself from falling over when you walk. Maybe it seems to basic because we all feel like we can't change anything with our two party system. What are you going to do about it? Run for office yourself? Not likely. You'd have to graduate law school and then start a career in public service. Somewhere close to 80% of all lawmakers in this country, are in fact, lawyers.

You wanna be a lawyer?



The real problem here is where two political parties divide on the issue of control. Republicans and Democrats think differently about control, and this cascades down their ideological stacks of political issues. Since they approach government from different angles, they have different views on how everything effects you and I.

This is where you and your neighbor differ. You're both Americans. You're both patriots. You're both focused on seeing this country through this difficult time and you both hope for a prosperous future. You're both right, and you're both wrong. You also need to return his weed-whacker before he goes postal on your ass.

So where does bi-partisans come in? You hear people talking about it all the time, but it seems nearly mythical nowadays. Where is the cooperation in a house divided down the middle? It's been complained about by everyone, especially those of us who do start grassroots organizations that focus on a specific cause or legislative goal. These people always get shafted because one party thinks differently than the other, and in the end both sides lose because of some little subsection in a legislative bill that leans outside one of these opposing ideologies.

The really disturbing thing is that both political parties have people who honestly want to make a difference. This is disturbing to me because it's a whole lot easier to think of politicians as elevated lawyers, and stuffy rich control freaks who don't have a clue about living in the real world. It's easier to think of your leaders as being out of touch, because the idea that they understand and fail -- or worse that they understand don't try -- is downright terrifying.

So where do you sit on the political spectrum? Left? Right? Somewhere in the middle? The truth is, most of us haven't got any stock in a political party. Most of us just wait to see what the political machine churns out every fall and make decisions based on our guts and/or gathered information. I think the one thing we forget as a people is that while some of us have Left ideas, we also have Right ideas. That's the reality of being in the middle. It's not that you aren't as passionate about Liberal or Conservative ideas, it's that you most likely have both inside your head.

There were a lot of people in the 80's and 90's who were pro-life, but didn't want anything to do with the Conservative Christian agenda. There were a lot of pro-choice people who couldn't stand liberals. There are Republicans who think tax cuts are the wrong idea, and Democrats who think trickle-down economics are the future. These people make up America and its ideas. We're the issue-straddling populace who work day after day to make this country what it is. We're working together even if we disagree, so why do we settle for a two party system?

We don't just have two different ways of thinking, so why do our leaders?

This is where we've developed this "political spectrum" idea so we can gauge individuals on how far left or right they sit on issues, but it's about as sharp as a bowling ball. For instance:

John Kerry is a Democrat. As far as he is concerned, he sits on a very far left side of his political party. You may remember William Jefferson Clinton, from a few years back. He sat a little further right than Kerry on issues, but like Kerry, would vote as far left as necessary to further the agenda of his party.

George Bush, is a Republican. As far as he is concerned, he sits on the right side of the spectrum but has a significant number of ideas that don't jive with the far right. He's similar to Clinton in this issue, as well as his proven track record of voting as far right as possible for the purpose of furthering his political party.

So where does this leave you and I?

It leaves us looking at this election like its over two people, not two parties. That is one of the greatest contradictions that comes with having an executive branch of government. We don't want a king, but we want a singular leader. We don't want dominant control over the population given to one person, but we want one man to be able to swiftly act when the country needs action. So a President is important to us. We desire an executive Head of State, and hope the checks and balances set in place will contain a renegade leader from harming the country.

So by being in the middle, the majority of this country has to make a decision and we convince ourselves that we support one candidate over the other, when in fact, we don't. Most of us are just convinced that the other guy is so wrong for the job that we vote the other way. I highly doubt that there is anyone who can con me into thinking this is a healthy election process.

But alas...all my ranting means little because I'm not ready to run for office yet either. (mind you, I will rule the world one day) I would hope that if you are one of the people who hasn't made up their minds, or if you agree and disagree with both candidates, that you would pay attention to what I am about to say.

Vote the big picture.

People use this term to funnel your attention towards a candidates primary issue/topic. For Bush, it's the war on terrorism. For Kerry, it's the war in general. There are a lot of little minions for both parties whispering words of support in every direction of every possible issue, however how people feel about what the US is doing overseas is the biggest thing on everyone's minds.

So where do you stand? Or more importantly, where did you stand on September 12th, 2001 compared to today?

Really, what did you want to do once you saw what happened? How did you feel when our current president spoke to the nation about the tragedy. What did you want to do about the people responsible?

Chances are if you're a Kerry supporter, you've changed your opinions about this. You were gung ho about wiping the carpet with these terrorists, and hoped that we as a nation, would band together and unite under the goal of victory. You were devastated by the tragedy, but encouraged by the brotherhood of man and American spirit that swelled through each of us that fall.

Then came Afghanistan. Chances are, you were all for going in and carpet bombing the place. You weren't too worried about being too delicate this time around either, having seen people plummet 80+ stories to their deaths to avoid burning to death. I'm sure that like me, you were just fine if a few innocent victims bit the dust in the fight against terror.

And then something happened, the current administration decided that Iraq was the next stepping stone in the fight against state-sponsored terrorism. So they gathered a bunch of military personnel and equipment pretty closeby. They then began to call on the international community to help us rid the threat of Saddam Hussein funding people like Al Queda. Only, the international community wasn't too keen on the idea...and you weren't sure you were either.



Once Bush walked into the United Nations and said you're either with us or against us, you'd probably began to feel a little uneasy about the whole thing. You might have even decided that since you didn't like Bush to begin with (he didn't WIN the election anyway did he?) you were pretty sure he had some other goal in mind for invading Iraq right?

Right?

Or were you really not interested in WMD's or assistance from France and Germany to begin with? Did the opinion of the "international community" really have any relevance about how you felt? Did you think Iraq was just a little bump on the radar of a bigger global problem and just wanted to get it over with and get to the next bag guys? Did you think the President blundered the whole thing and helped his oil cronies pry their way into billions in future oil? Do you think he didn't plan for anything and just arrogantly decided to win where his daddy failed?

Or do you think he sent in a small force that did it's job and has been policing a hostile environment full of terrorists ever since? Do you think the establishment of a democratic middle eastern country is a good thing, and merely one of the first steps in a global campaign against terror? Do you think the President did a good job, but could have done more?

Either way you feel, you need to get one thing straight.

The two political parties in this election are vehemently opposed in their views regarding this war. Regardless of how you feel about these two men, you need to understand that the Democratic party is ideologically opposed to war because of how they feel this country should be involved in international conflicts. This isn't conjecture. The Democratic party used to be full of people just like Republicans. They would have dropped everything to take up arms and defend this country in situations like this. The thing is, just like many issues, there were some who saw beyond the immediate impact of war. Progressively, they looked at the effects it would bring on the American people, and the way we looked to the rest of the world. Vietnam left a sharp reminder of poorly planned military operations.

The Republicans however are all for it. Sure, there are some who like the Democrats, are concerned for diplomatic viewpoints, but for the most part they think this threat should be faced head on. They feel that even the slightest waiver in confidence and stamina will only give an appearance of weakness and thus, provoke more attacks and even more negative views of America. To the Republicans, getting the other guy first is priority one, and Vietnam is a sharp reminder of poorly planned military operations as well.

Both parties have different perspectives from which they view this war. Both of these men have different views as well. In the end though, they will support the views of their party because that is what they are...an extension of a political party.

I am a proud conservative with terribly liberal social and economic views. My wife is a flaming liberal with terribly conservative social and economic views. We are voting for two different people in our house, and you can bet we're both voting the big picture here.

Both sides have spin on domestic and international issues. The truth is, the economy is in amazingly good shape for having had a terrorist attack on its financial center. The real estate, automotive, industrial, and shipping industries have fueled this economy to develop an upward trend in consumer confidence, and since that is what drives this country, that's what matters. Sure people have lost jobs. Over 400,000 IT jobs are currently in India.

But you know full well that everything went to shit on 9/11 and we haven't had a down market trend, or a decrease in job numbers for 2 years. Sure, they aren't flying over the centerfield wall, but claims that Bush hasn't done well domestically is a smokescreen ploy from an opposing party. Bush's party has thrown some smokescreens too. If you thought Bush was right with the war, you think he's doing well with domestic policy. If you think the war is wrong, then you think everyone is jobless and the economy is in the tank.

So in the end, stop paying attention to spin. Vote big picture and get real. This is a two party system, not a personality contest. You are voting one of two viewpoints into office.

Be smart. Vote big picture.