"I think it's kind of funny, I think it's kind of sad..." -Tears for Fears
Well. Despite my best attempts to become a political dissident and not vote, I have registered to vote in the upcoming election. I am disappointed in myself to be wholly honest. I wanted to throw my hands up and give the world a collective eff you and be done with the whole thing.
But then something magical happened. I realized that the reason that I am so irate at the state of our political climate is because, in essence, I am too American. I came to this realization when I reread the Declaration of Independence.
I have always thought that the DOI is one of those seminal documents in the history of man and one of the few perfect expressions of human intellect. It is brilliant in its clarity.
It is fundamentally a list of grievance by the Colonies, or United States, to the King of Great Britian, King George. They highlight everything that they feel makes them not British Subjects anymore. Illegal seizure, lack of representation, undue process of law, all things with interesting parallels in our own time.
I am not going to sit here on my bully pulpit and advocate for either of the two candidates in the election though. The truth is that I am not sure that either of them are a good match for my personal beliefs. I think that if there was a way to have a non-bloody revolution and boot the whole mess out and start anew, I would be up for it. But it isn't a perfect world, so let's work with the one we have.
First, I am not a fan of negative campaigning. It mars the subject, and when the subject is the future of American Democracy then I think that we owe it to the world to not got into ridiculous name calling.
But then still. I guess I am leaning towards the Obama ticket right now, and the reason is Sarah Palin's clumsy attacks on Obama and his "ties to terrorism" and relationship with Jeremiah Wright.
Here is my thought on this:
We are a nation of traitors, our legacy is that we stood up and fought our own government back in the 1770's because we didn't that they were standing up for us, or we though they were neglecting us, or we though they were harming us. We committed treason to become the nation that we are. It is part of the reason why the Constitution protects our Freedom of Speech in the First Amendment to the Constitution. So, does Jeremiah Wright become a bad person for using his pulpit as the launching point for his beliefs? I would say that actually, Rev. Wright is a wonderful American and I think that I would like to thank him first hand at some point in my life for reminding me why the United States is the best nation on Earth. Does that mean I agree with him? Not always, but I think that what I have read doesn't sound as far fetched as his sound bytes might portray. As for Bill Ayers. I can't think of anything more patriotic than returning the favor of our founding fathers, men who took up arms against their nation, burned and destroyed government buildings, and went to war their homeland to make their voices heard.
I think that the tactics by McCain's campaign have awoken a slumbering giant in me. I have been wanting to reread the Federalist Papers, and the Article of Confederation again. I have been wanting to remind my self that the skeleton of our country is in no way a reflection of the fat that hangs off its bones. I think I loved America once and I would say that my opinion has changed because of the assholes that run the country (bureaucrats and politicians). I think that on reading the Declaration of Independence I am not fully convinced that we remember where we came from. I want to encourage all the readers of this blog, look at the document that is the foundation of our country, read it and eat it up. Let it roll around in your head and then tell me that we are still holding those ideals to heart.
But then something magical happened. I realized that the reason that I am so irate at the state of our political climate is because, in essence, I am too American. I came to this realization when I reread the Declaration of Independence.
I have always thought that the DOI is one of those seminal documents in the history of man and one of the few perfect expressions of human intellect. It is brilliant in its clarity.
It is fundamentally a list of grievance by the Colonies, or United States, to the King of Great Britian, King George. They highlight everything that they feel makes them not British Subjects anymore. Illegal seizure, lack of representation, undue process of law, all things with interesting parallels in our own time.
I am not going to sit here on my bully pulpit and advocate for either of the two candidates in the election though. The truth is that I am not sure that either of them are a good match for my personal beliefs. I think that if there was a way to have a non-bloody revolution and boot the whole mess out and start anew, I would be up for it. But it isn't a perfect world, so let's work with the one we have.
First, I am not a fan of negative campaigning. It mars the subject, and when the subject is the future of American Democracy then I think that we owe it to the world to not got into ridiculous name calling.
But then still. I guess I am leaning towards the Obama ticket right now, and the reason is Sarah Palin's clumsy attacks on Obama and his "ties to terrorism" and relationship with Jeremiah Wright.
Here is my thought on this:
We are a nation of traitors, our legacy is that we stood up and fought our own government back in the 1770's because we didn't that they were standing up for us, or we though they were neglecting us, or we though they were harming us. We committed treason to become the nation that we are. It is part of the reason why the Constitution protects our Freedom of Speech in the First Amendment to the Constitution. So, does Jeremiah Wright become a bad person for using his pulpit as the launching point for his beliefs? I would say that actually, Rev. Wright is a wonderful American and I think that I would like to thank him first hand at some point in my life for reminding me why the United States is the best nation on Earth. Does that mean I agree with him? Not always, but I think that what I have read doesn't sound as far fetched as his sound bytes might portray. As for Bill Ayers. I can't think of anything more patriotic than returning the favor of our founding fathers, men who took up arms against their nation, burned and destroyed government buildings, and went to war their homeland to make their voices heard.
I think that the tactics by McCain's campaign have awoken a slumbering giant in me. I have been wanting to reread the Federalist Papers, and the Article of Confederation again. I have been wanting to remind my self that the skeleton of our country is in no way a reflection of the fat that hangs off its bones. I think I loved America once and I would say that my opinion has changed because of the assholes that run the country (bureaucrats and politicians). I think that on reading the Declaration of Independence I am not fully convinced that we remember where we came from. I want to encourage all the readers of this blog, look at the document that is the foundation of our country, read it and eat it up. Let it roll around in your head and then tell me that we are still holding those ideals to heart.
posted by V. at 11:57 PM
4 Comments:
Why should we listen to you? Aren't you a pinko commie that was born in some other country? You're not even American.
I am, in fact, blessed enough to have dual citizenship. I was born in another country, it is true. HOWEVER! And this is the crux of the argument. My forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence and I had family that fought on both sides of the War for Independence. All of this while your forefathers were hunting bloodsuckers in the carpathian mountains. Go grade papers.
v- i'm in love with you. it's why i never gave up on the usofa... thanks for the amazing post.
My butt is numb in that good I-Just-Sat-For-Three-Hours-Reading-Your-Whole-Blog-Archive kind of way.
I recently grew sick of the internet in general, and deleted accounts, and vowed to seperate myself from my keyboard. But I just realized why I grew sick of it... I stopped writing!
I feel like I have been lost for a year in a forrest of social networking, and your blog just flew overhead in a helecoptor shining a spotlight on me.
Stupid analogies aside, thank you.
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