Here Comes The Election

 The rapid approach of another national election brings to light many of the problems within the American political system. Our President, who has only been marginally effective for three years, loses all effectiveness for his last year of this term because of his focus on winning an additional term. I understand that some very popular decisions may come out of the Oval Office this year, but “popular” is not the same as “right” or “best”. Much of what is said and done by the President for the next several months will be geared toward getting re-elected as opposed to serving the best interest of the American people; while at the same time shoring up his defenses against an increasingly antagonistic Republican Party.

The biggest problem with the constant attacks of the Republicans is that they aren't each attacking the same target. Instead of finding a common goal and uniting to achieve it, all of the supposedly conservative candidates are spending every waking moment beating the hell out of each other for the right to be on the presidential ballot. Now, maybe I'm just an uneducated redneck, but if none of them can create an agenda that their own party can rally around what makes any of them think that they should be President?

Seriously.

The primary function of the Presidential Office is to represent the United States to the rest of the world, yet the right to sit in that office is being won or lost over who can yell the loudest and wave the most money around. Are these really the people we want to choose from? A lackluster President and a crowd of backstabbing cat-fighters? Please, tell me there is another choice.

There is another choice.

I remember an old Richard Pryor movie called Brewster's Millions. I won't go into the whole plot, but the climax came when Pryor's character had to tell the public, “I didn't want to get elected. I wanted to show everyone that they had a choice”. (My Paraphrase) The idea was that the choices on the ballot were so bad that Brewster ran on the platform, “None Of The Above”, but then found himself about to win the election when all he really wanted was for people to vote “None Of The Above”.

This coming November we will have the same opportunity. If we are truly dissatisfied with a system that gives us such poor choices in leadership we can each choose to vote for someone who is neither Republican nor Democrat. You see, in a political system that is dominated by two parties, any vote cast for a “third party” candidate is a vote for “None Of The Above”.

Someone may ask, “What's the point? If I vote for a candidate who has no chance of winning I just wasted my vote.” Nothing can be farther from the truth. If the winner on November 2^nd takes the election with only 41% of the popular vote because 20% of the people chose “None Of The Above”, a huge point will have been made. It will be very clear at that time that the man taking the Oath of Office does not come close to representing the majority of Americans. In fact it will say a lot that so many people would “waste” their vote as opposed to taking part in the sham we call a Two Party System. If a fifth of the voting population were to choose to vote for anyone who doesn't come from one of the two major parties those parties would have to wake up to the idea that they are representing themselves more than they are the American people.

Of course, this won't give us a better President this year, but what about in four years? It's possible that someone, somewhere might start listening to what the average man on the street thinks. Maybe someone will start to look at what is best for the nation as a whole instead of what is best for this group or that group. Maybe (I know, it's just a fantasy), maybe an “average” person could actually make a serious run for office. Then we could vote for someone other than an inflated bag of ego with deep pockets without “wasting” our votes. Wouldn't that be something?

What a dream.

I know that the choice that some folks will make is to simply drop out by not voting at all. They don't like the choices and would feel as though a third party vote is wasted, so they will choose to not vote at all. Here is the problem with that idea. If nobody votes against the system then the winner gets a larger percentage of the votes. You see, if the discontented voters don't vote, the vast majority of the votes will go to a Republican or a Democrat and a high percentage of votes for the winner gives the impression that he is who the people want in office. If the end result of this election is going to be one of our current choices, I would rather see the President go into office knowing that most of us don't want him there. Has a President ever started his term with a negative popularity poll? Ouch!

Like I said before, this approach will not fix anything in the immediate future, and I certainly would never try to tell someone else how to vote, but this is the direction I'm heading in: None Of The Above. It may not change anything ever, but it seems better than the alternatives.

Somewhere To Start

 I'm not a very good follower. Since I was a child I have had difficulty doing what I am told to do, or even doing what someone else wants to do. When the other kids wanted to play hide-and-seek, I preferred Cowboys and Indians (forgive me; Exploited Migrant Ranch Hands v. Native Americans). It's true that I learned to balance my wants with those of others at times, but the underlying drive in my life has always been to do things my way, on my time frame.

This approach to life has given me nothing but trouble for as long as I can remember. Trouble at home, trouble in school, and trouble with the law. If it weren't for those rare men who are worthy of following (SGT Weekes and CPT Pandol come to mind) I would have never survived my time in the Army. Autonomy and independence have always seemed to be more important to me than “playing well with others” and this philosophy has led me to a life of semi-seclusion because I find it easier to be away from people than to filter my thoughts and words lest I should offend someone. It's not that I don't like people; I just seem to think differently and it takes a lot of effort to explain myself in such a way that I don't come across as cold and heartless, or simply indifferent.

Unfortunately, I question my own motives at times. Am I separate because I'm independent, or am I independent so that I can be separate? That is an important question for me because one of the rules in our house is that no one can argue for the sake of argument. If you don't have a point that you are trying to make, if you simply want to antagonize someone, then don't go against the grain. This leads to a more peaceful home life and the kids seem to be learning to think before they speak; and when they do speak, look out, their ideas are not easy to refute. The problem is that I now wonder if I think differently so that I can enhance my independence, or do I just think differently? Or do I just think too much?

I've been questioning these things as I watch all of the preparations that go into choosing the next President of our nation, and this questioning makes me wonder if I am anti-American. (Insert Disclaimer Here: I consider myself to be a devout Christian as well as a true patriot of my country.) When I look at the direction that America is moving in today compared to what appears to be the direction envisioned by the men who got this whole thing started I find myself disgusted. Disgusted with our overall leadership, and disgusted with our apathy. It bothers me that our government tends to run against the best interest of the individual while the Constitution declares the importance of individual rights. It really bothers me that we have a political system that only seems to promote those who are willing to perpetuate the system, regardless of its failings. It really, really bothers me that any religious group would try to hijack the system when the primary reason for our forefathers' immigration to this continent from Europe was the desire to believe what one believes without persecution. But, what bothers me the most is that most Americans just don't care. As long as our personal boat doesn't get rocked too hard we just watch the world go by. It reminds me of the punch line of an old joke, “if you are happy and warm in a pile of manure, keep your mouth shut”.

After what I wrote earlier about arguing I don't want to come across as one who is picking a fight or stirring things up for no good reason. I just think it's time for Americans to take an honest look at the failings of our government and begin to look for solutions. I certainly do not think that I have a monopoly on the “right” answers. There may be no right answers. But, the least we can do is think about what we believe and how we act so that we can begin taking steps in the right direction.

The challenge for me is going to be continuing to write. I don't know if anyone will ever actually read this, but I need to get this stuff out of my brain to make room for more important things like hunting or playing guitar. So, I will try to keep putting these thoughts out there, and if anyone wants to join the discussion, then that's great. If not, then that's great too.

To Begin, Again

 I haven't written anything in a long time. Nothing of value at least.

It could be argued that nothing that I've ever written is of value, but that discussion might be better held at a different time. The point is that I feel compelled to begin again. To begin writing. To begin drawing. To begin creating music. Any of the creative processes that I've enjoyed in the past. Anything to minimize the mental feedback that resonates through my soul at the moment.

Looking back, I see that my reasons for not writing were rather foolish. Truly, there was but one reason. I felt that it was arrogant of me to assume that anyone would care what I have to say. There seemed to be no purpose in creating something for no one to see, yet it made me uncomfortable to share my thoughts with anyone other than myself because I was afraid that people would think that I thought my thoughts were important. So, for almost two years the creative urge has been silenced. I have read what others have written, enjoyed the art work of others, and, oddly enough, quit listening to music almost all together. Anything creative that may have come up inside me was simply turned inwards; thus the mental feedback.

So, here I am, with my laptop and my thoughts, wondering if there is a point to this. Maybe that wondering is the point. I can't say for certain that my purpose in life is to be a writer, but maybe I feel this need to wrestle with my thoughts and then write them out so that I can stay within sight of my own sanity. It could be that God designed me to sit on the brink of lunacy so that I can document the experience of staring into my own mind. Then, if some other poor soul happens to stumble upon what I have seen, they may learn that lunacy is universal; that we all go a little crazy when peering too closely at ourselves.

So it is not arrogance that leads me to write, draw or play music. It's self-preservation. Whether, or not, anyone else experiences the fruit of my insanity is irrelevant; the point is simply to create it. Whoever will be led to it will be led to it. Whoever will benefit from it will do so. Whoever will think that I have created garbage will still be affected in some way. The point is that it's time to turn my thoughts outward and eliminate the feedback.

Honestly, the noise in here is making me crazy.