Friday, September 05, 2008

Conventional Thinking



I don’t consider myself to be a Democrat or a Republican.
The two party system has hijacked the Constitution and sold it to Corporations in ways never anticipated by the Founding Fathers. And typically the choice for president is usually a choice between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.
So I have usually cast my presidential vote against the Tweedle Dumbest of the two choices. That is sad and frustrating.

These last two weeks I have watched the conventions.
I didn’t watch all of them. But it appears I watched more than most people I have talked to.
Now I know that the real purpose of the conventions is to solidify the base, meaning to get those people who habitually vote for your party to vote for your party and not do something unspeakable like vote for the other candidate. So I know that I am not the primary audience for political conventions. I’m not supposed to be impressed. And most of the time I am just frustrated by the dangerous voodoo group thinking that goes on at these things. And yet still I watch like a 5th grade boy watching a train wreck.

But this year was a little bit different. This year it is very clear to me that there can be a lot of difference between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb. The last 8 years have made that very clear to me. And when the Tweedle Dumb Party is willing to purge voter rolls, cage voters, flip electronic voting machines, physically stop vote counting, and get the Supreme Court to call the election, then the Tweedle Dee party needs to bring twice as many people to the party to overcome the foul play.

Last week I was camping with my family the night Barak Obama gave his big speech. So I did not see the stadium crowd or the fake pillars. But I did listen to what he said. And once again I found myself wanting to believe that this particular candidate actually means most of what he says. I found myself crossing my fingers and hoping and praying that Obama gets a chance to be the next president. There were topics I wish he had talked about. There are some things he wants to do that I disagree with. But I do think that if he can survive the Republican dirty tricks (you know the ones they pull every September and October during elections) that Obama just might be the most genuine and charming person to run for president in my life time. And with all the crap Bush and Company has done, I think we could use a Constitutional Law Expert in the White House. Call me a radical, but I think that is extremely relevant experience for the job.

This week I watched John McCain give his big speech. After several days of Republican Voodoo Economics reruns and faith-based praise for free and unfettered businesses with few facts, I was ready to hear what the candidate had to say. I could see that the base was jazzed about their VP. I don’t get it, but they think she is great. And I sat through the complete lies they told about their competition. And McCain finally got up and told us what he wanted to do. And I found myself hoping and praying that if McCain wins the election that he only means half of what he says. Oh, and John, the “P” in “POW” does not stand for President. And by the way America does not need another War President.

I think it is astounding that neither party wanted or expected either of these two people to be their candidates for president. Somehow the people snuck into the primary process and surprised the pundits, the experts, the talking heads, the lobbyists, and the parties’ favorites. So maybe things will be different no matter who gets elected. I hope so. But I also hope it is Obama. I hope enough new voters have registered in enough states that it overwhelms the usual attempts to monkey with the results. If the Republicans steal 5 million votes, I hope Obama has 10 million more than they expect.

Either way. Whoever wins. It will still be the job of the American people to stand up and be heard. To make it very clear to our representatives that they work for the people, not for corporations. I don’t think Republican voters want to vote against their own interests. I just think they don’t follow up and pay attention. They believe the advertising slogans and don’t read the ingredients. And Democrats have the same problem to a slightly lesser degree. (Would that be a Tweedle Degree?)

Either way, I still believe that it is inherent in human nature to be social beings. To reach out and care for those around us. To gather people in and welcome them at our hearth. To feed the hungry. To care for the sick. That is the way most people act and want to act. We need to remember that, to encourage our natural humanity and not let it be twisted by the artificial isolation created by our corporate/consumer world of cubicles and cars and TV sets in every room. This is still a human world. And I still have hope. Even if that is not the Convention-al thinking.

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