Mind games
August 31st, 2008asshats, Clinton, election, kerfuffle, Obama, Olympics, politics
This is going to be a very short rant because, after much thinking, I decided anything long and drawn out would be a little too painful for me and my three readers.
Is it just me, or is politics being treated more and more like some kind of reality TV game show? It seems like some kind of performance that gets consumed rather than a method for distinguishing the values of a leader.
For example, the kerfuffle over whether or not Obama really “sold” his being a Christian at Rick Warren’s questioning. I’m a Christian and I couldn’t give a crap whether or not Obama “sold” his “performance” as a Christian. What about whether or not he’ll fish the economy out of the crapper, or whether or not he’ll go to war? Religion is a private thing, and while I don’t think it’s impossible for a politician to be sincerely religious, I resent the way Christianity as played a a chip in the game. Perhaps I resent, more than anything, how people watch these performances and make judgments based on them.
Then there was that whole bit with Hillary not really selling her support for Obama at the convention. What more is she supposed to say than “I support Barack Obama for president”? Should she give him a blow job on national television? Then the pundits would argue about whether or not she swolled, or how much she spilled, and ultimately decide whatever the hell they wanted to decide about it.
It seems like it used to be more about “the issues” than it is now. Even when the politicians would lie about what they would do, at least they were talking about important things. Now it’s all about how good of an actor the candidate is. Do we really want a really good actor for president? Someone who lies with expertise? Honestly, I could hardly tell whether people on the radio were talking about the election or the Olympics.
Treating politics like the Olympics is extremely dangerous. This is not a game; this is real life, and we are playing with our lives.
Your last line is so right–Politics determines how our lives will be affected and it seems with how much coverage a candidate gets, the more games the media likes to play with them and try to get people to gang up on each other and argue, throw insults and that ultimately gets nothing accomplished. The media is in place to simply distract us from what is really going on so the totalitarian government that America has been trying to put in place since WWII can edge a little further in and take us all over, brainwashing us into believing that we’re fine and being protected when our rights are continuously being taken away under the pseudonym of “protection.”
@Holly wow my head was spinning a little bit reading your comment
I do admire your passion. When the revolution comes, we’ll be ready!
^ What she said. Though I think this particular kind of thing has more or less been going on since the inception of our country. It just seems to have gained the most ground in the last fifty years or so, though certainly the groundwork has been in progress for much longer. Also, I must say that this kind of thing in general has been around for as long as humanity. There have and will always be those who seek and attempt to gather power by any means possible.
Well, to some extent that is why I choose to not use media or political really determine who I vote for. I try and listen to the speeches (Thank youtube for access to them at anytime) and go from there. Listening to what they and trying to take it apart, and figuring out what a president hast he power to do, and what the candidate claims they’re going to do.
-resident chef-
[...] Ok so, I’m still on hiatus, but I couldn’t help but share this since it fit so well with my other political rant. [...]