I’ll start with a bit
of a disclaimer: I am no expert on politics. That won’t shock any of you that
know me personally as you’ve probably often wondered if I am even aware of the
fact that it’s an election year. Oh,
but I am, those tacky signs pinned on every street corner, in every city- they’re
a dead giveaway! By the way, I’ll mention that the street corners are
appropriate places for those wastes of paper and space.
That
being said, I have a few things I need to get off my chest, and I’ll try to be
as honest (or as “un-politician-like”) as I can as I go through these items.
The Lesser of Two
Evils
First
off, we as a country are facing two absolutely abysmal choices for “candidates”
from the Republican and Democratic parties this year. On one hand we have a
self-serving, greedy, bigot, and on the other we have a self-serving, lying,
sellout. It makes you think that we have hardly any choice at all. It makes me
sick to my stomach to think that either one could be president.
We Need a Change
I’ll
admit I was going to vote for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, but
unfortunately due to a state law saying I needed to be registered with that
party 30 days prior in order to do so, I was barred. That being said, I am a
realist, and I didn’t mourn over the fact that he lost the democratic
nomination to Mrs. Clinton. At this stage I will neither cry over it, nor
entertain inter-party conspiracy theories (although it does make one wonder).
I say
all that, to say this; we need political reform. The delegate/super-delegate
system, Electoral College, corporate donations, lack of term limits, and other archaic
practices are only in place so that each party doesn’t lose more control than
is acceptable at any given time.
They’ve
conditioned you to cheer for your chosen political party like it’s a Super Bowl
matchup for the ages. People are more concerned about what side wins or loses
than who actually gets anything done once they get elected. Personally, it’s
not a matter of popularity, looks or celebrity endorsements with me- I want
results!
Agree to Disagree?
Which
brings me to my next point: the donkeys and elephants despise each other, that’s
been clear to me since I was a child. Get two guys or gals together; different
religion, different backgrounds different education…9 times out of 10 they are
usually fine until someone brings up politics. However, we should hold our
elected officials to a higher standard. You don’t have to agree on every issue
in order to make progress. I was a project manager at a huge corporation for a
decade- guess what? I often had to work with colleagues that I didn’t agree
with (gasp), even on occasion, those I didn’t like!
I couldn’t
stymie or filibuster them into oblivion because at the end of the day my boss
wanted results. If I didn’t have them? Then I imagine my walking papers would’ve
been promptly drawn up.
If you can’t
agree on how to solve for a particular issue, at least you can agree it’s a problem
facing the nation. My suggestions to our legislators from across the aisles
would be to start there. Work together, your ideologies may differ but you can
at least agree on a starting point. Be professional, and do the job you were
elected to do, rather than the bidding you pledged to your political party.
 |
| *All rights to The New Yorker magazine where applicable |
Thinking it Over
Now I’ve
come to a point where I am certain that I will not be voting for Clinton or
Trump come Election Day. Do I just sit at home and drink a beer, eat a few handfuls
of Doritos and hope for the best? I don’t think I can manage that. In fact, I’m
not sure if I could live with myself over that type of inaction in the face of such
mounting peril. The question becomes who then?
My
answer; at this point I don’t know. I am currently looking at the Johnson & Weld ticket, and doing some research to see where they are at on issues. While
still politicians, I feel that they may be more results-focused, rather than special
interest-focused than our other choices at this stage. This isn’t an endorsement,
as I am still currently vetting them as an option. But I know what you’re going
to say to that; “A vote for anyone outside of the two major parties is a wasted
vote” – if you truly think that, reread what I wrote above about being
conditioned- and then reconsider why you think that.*
See you
at the polls…God help us all.
-
David
UPDATE
So I thought it an idea (maybe not a "good" one, but an idea nonetheless) to add an update as we have gotten much closer to election day, and so much has happened since I initially wrote and posted the original blog.
I felt compelled to address what seems to me to be the main arguments between both democrats and republicans regarding the other party's candidate, and they are: integrity and capability.
I'll begin with integrity. Let's be honest, both major candidates are less than truthful. Clinton's main detractors point to her mismanagement of classified emails and her utilization of an alleged pay-to-play strategy in regards to her dealings with persons of power and their involvement with the Clinton Foundation, and Benghazi. Those who oppose Trump cry foul regarding his shady business dealings, disparaging remarks about...well pretty much everyone except wealthy white men, grabbing *ahem* things that don't belong to him, and lack of releasing tax returns. Neither candidate is ideal, neither candidate inspire much hope when viewed through a realistic lense.
Which brings me to my next point around capability. If I am objectively reviewing both candidates behavior and record and see reasons to distrust both, where does that leave me?
Well to be frank it leaves me with a poor choice. However, with that being said if I am already willing to accept that both candidates lie, or are at least less than truthful on a regular basis, it has to come down to who can get the job done, right? Given Trump's panache for child-like tirades, gross misstatement (or perhaps misunderstanding?) of statistics, and lack of culpability for his own actions / statements, I cannot in good conscious cast a vote for a man who's only possible strength is that he hasn't abused power in a political setting...yet.
To expand, claiming Trump is anti-establishment and shakes up both the republicans and democrats because he is an outsider with no interest in party pandering or favors might be accurate, but it has become quite clear that Trump is only out for Trump, and if elected I foresee the man taking office and using the country itself to further his business dealings and nothing more. Moreover, I believe that Clinton can and will do what she can to help the disenfranchised in this country, even if she herself profits while doing so.
To wrap up, I've already cast my vote via early ballot, and I'll let you use the above diatribe to determine who it went toward. But know this: I can only say I voted for the lesser of 2 (more accurately 4) evils and that realization doesn't make me feel proud this election year.
May God have mercy on our souls.
- David
10/21/16
*I'll add that after researching both the Johnson/ Weld and Stein/ Ajamu policy and platforms I found them both to be at best lacking substance, and at worst ignorant on government structure, operations and processes. But I wanted so badly for them to be robust, and well laid out. Really and truly, I did.
So I thought it an idea (maybe not a "good" one, but an idea nonetheless) to add an update as we have gotten much closer to election day, and so much has happened since I initially wrote and posted the original blog.
I felt compelled to address what seems to me to be the main arguments between both democrats and republicans regarding the other party's candidate, and they are: integrity and capability.
I'll begin with integrity. Let's be honest, both major candidates are less than truthful. Clinton's main detractors point to her mismanagement of classified emails and her utilization of an alleged pay-to-play strategy in regards to her dealings with persons of power and their involvement with the Clinton Foundation, and Benghazi. Those who oppose Trump cry foul regarding his shady business dealings, disparaging remarks about...well pretty much everyone except wealthy white men, grabbing *ahem* things that don't belong to him, and lack of releasing tax returns. Neither candidate is ideal, neither candidate inspire much hope when viewed through a realistic lense.
Which brings me to my next point around capability. If I am objectively reviewing both candidates behavior and record and see reasons to distrust both, where does that leave me?
Well to be frank it leaves me with a poor choice. However, with that being said if I am already willing to accept that both candidates lie, or are at least less than truthful on a regular basis, it has to come down to who can get the job done, right? Given Trump's panache for child-like tirades, gross misstatement (or perhaps misunderstanding?) of statistics, and lack of culpability for his own actions / statements, I cannot in good conscious cast a vote for a man who's only possible strength is that he hasn't abused power in a political setting...yet.
To expand, claiming Trump is anti-establishment and shakes up both the republicans and democrats because he is an outsider with no interest in party pandering or favors might be accurate, but it has become quite clear that Trump is only out for Trump, and if elected I foresee the man taking office and using the country itself to further his business dealings and nothing more. Moreover, I believe that Clinton can and will do what she can to help the disenfranchised in this country, even if she herself profits while doing so.
To wrap up, I've already cast my vote via early ballot, and I'll let you use the above diatribe to determine who it went toward. But know this: I can only say I voted for the lesser of 2 (more accurately 4) evils and that realization doesn't make me feel proud this election year.
May God have mercy on our souls.
- David
10/21/16
*I'll add that after researching both the Johnson/ Weld and Stein/ Ajamu policy and platforms I found them both to be at best lacking substance, and at worst ignorant on government structure, operations and processes. But I wanted so badly for them to be robust, and well laid out. Really and truly, I did.
