Thar She Blows

With the election looming ever present a few short weeks in the near future, it appears as though it is once again up to us, the voting politic, to make a decision on the direction of the country for the next four years.

The thing is, and forgive this pathological intrusion, I find it hard to believe that what we the people actually want to happen has much to do with the actual agenda of whoever ends up winning.

This two-party system has such a stranglehold on the ideology of the American political monster that it is practically impossible for anyone outside of the immediate twofold system to have any substantial effect on the affairs of our country.

I am not going to sit here and claim to have anything near a comprehensive knowledge of the platform of either major candidate in this election, and I suspect that it isn't that important anyway.

What these people do, say, espouse, promote, defy, argue, and defend is more or less preordained by those that insure that the system is fed and nurtured to perpetuate itself and exclude the rest of us.

The most obvious example of this is the electoral college. Originally set up to protect the country from the ignorance of the general public, the electorates were created in order to undo the stupid mistakes of the actual people who ought to elect these clowns in the first place.

Look at the debates. The presidential debates are run by a private corporation run by guys who themselves were partisan leaders in the past. The debates were once run by the League of Women Voters, a non-partisan organization that did a fabulous job of keeping politics out of the debates in the interest of informing us in order that we might make a better-informed decision in the voting booths.

Now, the direction of the debates are controlled by both parties behind closed doors before the debates ever take place. Things like topics of discussion, limits on answer lengths, follow lengths and so-on are set, and any discussion of third-party candidates being added to the discussion are considered.

The only reason H. Ross Perot was allowed to participate when he did was because Clinton wanted the distraction in order to strengthen his own position.

The Palin/Biden Vice Presidential debate, while greatly entertaining, was little more than theater. It gave fuel to the media to chew on, and it allowed us to feel as though we were granted a window into the democratic process in such a way that we are led to believe we are part of it.

We practically aren't.

If you consider how hard McCain wants you to think Obama is the most liberal candidate in history, or how hard Obama wants you to think that he will somehow usher in an era of change when there is little to make anyone think anything real will actual improve when he is president, the whole prospect comes up a bit, well, goofy.

Who actually has a clue what the fuck is happening, as we speak, on Wall Street? Any idea what exactly has caused this nightmare and how to get out of it?

The mistakes made in the name of finance and investment and trading and funding and loans and insurance and mortgages and hedges are something that practically nobody really understands.

If you listen to people who make a living studying the markets, things are dire indeed. How did we get here, and what effect will it have on us?

The Congress got creeped out by the bailout bill but then folded when tax breaks were added for people like the makers of wooden toy arrows.

Huh?

Make any sense to you?

The party of free, untethered, unregulated markets, the party of keeping the Government out of business of American business went and sold the world of banking up the river.

Washington now has a large hand in the legal control over big banking. Does that make any sense to you?

It doesn't to me.

But back on planet earth, I know practically no one with any investments at all. Most of the people I know, including my father who is by no means poor, have no investments at all save perhaps for their house itself. I still make little to no money and struggle daily with bills, child support, gas, food, and so on. It's not like I am losing my shirt in the markets. I don't have one to lose.

So Mr. limit spending (McCain) has voted for the biggest financial bailout in history (over 800 billion dollars), but he wants you to know that he is a Maverick, and that he understands me.

Understands me? Come the fuck on.

And Obama wants me to know that he will usher in a new era of change in Washington, though he is unequivocal about his position against gay marriage. That alone is, for me, reason not to vote for him.

But here's the conundrum.

This election for me will boil down to the lesser of two evils, and while we might be talking about micro-measurements here, I am going to have to go with Obama.

The third parties have no chance whatsoever even though their views on the economy, the environment, gay rights, the war, and damn near everything else mesh more with what I want to happen in this country.

Obama has a chance. And he scares me that much less than McCain.

And then there's Palin...

God help us all.

Let's just say that I would take Biden over her. That's where she sits on my map.

No matter how closely you study Washington politics you will never even be granted the slightest glimpse into what actually happens up there.

Bill Hicks had it right. As he put it: "Shut up America and drink more beer."

Your government had your number long before you were born.

"Go back to sleep."

And, the sweetest of dreams.