Fools Rush In

Well, we have some relief, for a little while anyway. The relentless assault on all of us for the last few years is slowly going away. It will rear its ugly head again in a short time. 2016 is only four years away, but, for a politician, it is as close as Christmas is to us. For now, all of the mudslinging and innuendo, the lies and distortions, can be put away for some time. We can catch our breath, and, step back to evaluate what we went through and its results. This is the wreckage of another Presidential campaign..... I can't help but feel unclean after this election. Not because of the outcome. My protest vote was for my Dad. I could not think of a strong reason to vote for Obama or Romney. I know Facebook is a loose way to judge the public and its tastes, but, all I saw for the past year is intense hatred of one candidate, while the candidate of their choice is greeted with lukewarm support. In short, it was '' please, just don't vote for [ add name of candidate here ] and you will really like my guy. Really.''.... Ask yourself this, all of you ''supporters'' of either Obama or Romney: did you really have a passion for your candidate? Most responses, I believe, would be a no. It seemed to be another election of voting for the lesser of two evils instead of a quality person for office. This is where my depression and disgust come into play. This was our choice!!! These two!!! What the fuck is that??? The greatest country in the history of the world, with all of our goodness and hard work, brings forth this dreck? What happened to us???....... Now, I know how the game is played. Candidates are chosen in smoke-filled rooms, by the movers and shakers and all-powerful hustlers that make up a political party or special interest group. We really have no say in this. Unions, oil companies, Hollywood power brokers, religious fanatics, etc, all gather together and give us our choices. Those of us who trudge through life going to work--- if, you are lucky to have a job these days--- which is most of us, are shut out of deciding who will guide us. It has been this way since the world was young. Somehow, it seems to get more blatant and harmful with every election. The standard line being if we do not like who is currently in office, vote them out. Well, I tried, as you know doubt have also. And, where did it get us? Mitt and Barack. Or, Mutt and Jeff.... In the past I have always looked at a protest vote as a waste of a vote. Not anymore. I understand now. As I get older, and, see how people really are, there is no good vote. Only an acceptable vote. I cannot fathom how a person can give his or her allegiance to one of these parties every election. Not with the way that each party has been polluted with zealots. Each party is too extreme and insidious. My family and friends have always been blue-collar. Financially and mentally, we were given this station in life. And, we wear it proudly. So, which party benefits me and my loved ones in life? Lets take a look.... Take the Republican Party. My Dad was a free-thinking Republican. He believed, as I did, that the agenda for this party suited his own personal beliefs. It was for small government, a military for protection of our homeland, good education, and, taking care of those that are down and out until they can get on their feet again. This was the old Republican Party, pre-Reagan. Now, this once proud party is more and more isolated from mainstream America. They are completely run by the dangerous far-right. The NRA, religious messiahs, the hatred of minorities, the aged, women, that is the Republicans in 2012. Long gone are the days when the GOP just left themselves out of a private citizens life. Now, they tell women what to do with their bodies in terms of a pregnancy. Now, they wrap themselves in the message of God and soil what God really stands for. Big business dictates over common sense issues like better air and global warming. And, their love and protection of the rich is so blatant that they actually have convinced themselves that rich people are suffering like poor people. Lobbyists, those dangerous, evil people who are in bed with both parties, run the show, along with Wall Street and Madison Avenue. My Dad, in his final years, saw where his old party was going and voted Democratic. As always, Dad was one step ahead of the world..... But, the Democratic Party that my father voted for was deeply flawed, as well. He knew that, but, still gave hope that wiser people would save it. They didn't. If possible, the Democrats are even more dangerous than the Republicans. If the Democrats have a counterpart to the oil industry, then it is the unions. Unions and the increasing intrusive Hollywood pipeline. Unions have always put the arm on its memebers on whom to vote for. If a certain region of the country does not hold up its end on election day, then the unions have been known to squeeze that region dry as punishment. Ask a Teamster. I know several, and, they look over their shoulder come election time. And, Hollywood. Dear, Hollywood. At least, we can always count on show business people to give us a chuckle. Hollywood is very liberal. Every election, we see Clooney and Springsteen and Bon Jovi, or, some other out of touch with everyday life celebrity, coming down from their personal mountain to tell us about life and how we should vote. The fact that these people can barely tie their shoes properly without a personal assistant seems to be of no thought to them when they talk about the real world. The core of the Democratic Party has also shifted, but, to the far-left. The push for an entitlement society, open borders, mass government spending, and, deficits are their M.O. Environmental lobbyists, while on the correct side of the issue, ironically, have thrown their own pollution of influence into the party. Now, all of us want to breath without the air killing us, but, the Environmental lobbyists have so entwined itself with companies that milk the problem, that even a good, noble cause is lost in the fog of corruption and influence peddling. Finally, there is the theory of taxation. Sure, the rich should pay more, but, not at the expense of crippling their well-earned work. After all, isn't the goal of all of us to make more money? Honest reward for honest work? To penalize someone for doing well is not the American way. I am not defending the rich, just their right to be rich.... The best example that I can think of in this calamity that is our election process is the reelection of Jesse Jackson Jr. We all know what vipors his family are, led by the racial divider and shakedown artist, Jesse Sr. Jesse the elder, long has been out for himself and not for helping anyone else. He has taught these skills well to his sons. Jesse Jr, a longtime con-artist in the best tradition of his family, recently became mysteriously ill when investigators began getting closer to his dealings with our ex-Governor, Rod Blagolovich. He has been hiding out at the Mayo Clinic with depression. Apparently, life is no longer a cakewalk for this dastardly heir to a scumbag family. Rather than answer questions that may cost him eventual jail time, the Jesser is playing possum with authorities and is resting quietly [ and , comfortably ] in Minnesota. Being an Illinois Representative, you would think he could have the decency to find a rehab place to go to in this state. Anyway, with all these pressing questions surrounding his dealings and character, what does his constituency do? Well, they REELECT HIM!!! In a LANDSLIDE!!! Incredible. The party machine guided him to another victory, without him having to lift a finger or spend a dime. This is the definitive example of political chicanery, and, the public's apathy towards both parties and all politicians..... So, what do we do? The simple answer is nothing. We are caught in the web that they all spin. I do not ever want to hear again from a party supporter about how good their party is and how obscene the other party is. They all swim in the same cesspool of corruption and greed. The generations before us have allowed this to happen, along with most of our most pressing problems in the world. The inmates have long run the asylum in politics, and we have reached the point of no return. Sorry to sound the trumpet of doom. Both parties are dead, which is why we get an Obama and a Romney. Maybe, a third party will be the answer. History has shown us, though, that a third party will also be swallowed up by the vices that afflict Democrats and Republicans. No one looks out for our best interests. Enjoy your Obama victory. It doesn't mean a damn thing anymore... I love the old show ''The Twilight Zone''. One of its most famous episodes concerns a community dealing with a rumored alien invasion. It starts as a thought, spreads quickly to a rumor, then it turns into paranoia and fear. Soon, the neighbors are fighting with each other, and, a murder happens. The episode ends with an overhead shot of the actual aliens observing the neighborhood imploding in chaos. The two aliens talk. One says, ''See how it is done? We just turn off a few lights and they start fighting amongst themselves. It happens everywhere we go.'' The episode ends with the aliens getting back into their spaceshift to visit another neighborhood. The message of the story is simple: with rumors, we plant fear. With fear comes desperation and rage and estrangement. And, with all of those volatile human feelings in the melting pot, we start to devour each other... Sounds a lot like what we experience in any election nowadays......