Sheeple

This is the one where I talk about politics a little. As anyone who knows me will testify, I don’t really talk about politics very much but this past election, I don’t know how one could get away without talking about it. For starters, I was raised right. (No one show this to my parents or they will get swelled heads). The President of the United States is the Commander in Chief. Whether you agree with some of his policies or not, he is still in the office, he got there through the democratic process and deserves a little respect because of that. Sadly I believe a lot of people have forgotten about this. (To include my parents) When I am out on my travels I head people all the time talk about how horrible Bush is and how he is screwing up the country. While in Vegas I saw people in the wax museum flipping off the wax statue of G.W..

Now, I have a very unique view on how government should be run. I claim to be neither liberal nor conservative, Republican or Democrat (or green or any of those others). I don’t like the labels because they don’t represent what I truly believe in. I am all for the death penalty, the prisons are overcrowded and we are wasting money on keeping scum fed and housed. On the flip side, I firmly believe that same sex marriage should be allowed. Their lives don’t have any effect on mine, why should I deny them the happiness of marriage? I live in a very high cost area, and because of this, I have to make a lot of money even to just survive and pay rent. The amount I make would be a fortune if I lived in BFE Iowa, but I don’t. Because of this, people look only at the amount I make and say “You are upper class and make too much”. (In the area I live, I can assure you that I am in the middle class section.) Under certain tax plans, this means that I will see a tax increase, which means that I will be taking home even less money.

We have a new President Elect now. There are some policies of his that I do not agree with. There are some that I do. Likewise with McCain, there were things I agreed with, and some I did not. Regardless, Mr. Obama has won and he will be my President. Just like Mr. Bush was my President.

What bothers me is all the hype and hoopla I see in the media, and even in some of my friends who believe that Obama is the second coming of Christ and that we are doing away with the corporate Satan. The thing is, While Bush was in office, he wasn’t the only one making decisions. While Obama is in office, he will not be the only one making decisions. We should not place all the blame on a single person. We have the Senate, Congress, and our own state Representatives that all provide input on important issues. There is a process in place for you to deal with the issues you dislike. There are plenty of people that we elect to help fight against the things we disagree with.

If we just sit and bitch about the person at the top, and ignore the process and the people that are presenting that person with the options, then we accomplish nothing. There was a time early on when Bush had an incredibly high approval rating. He was voted, by the people and for the people, into office, not once, but twice. Now the American people have spoken again. Apparently the choice made by them is looking for change. If that is what the American people want, then I will abide by that choice and accept our new President. But I will remind those who flipped off the Wax figures and called our current president names, be for warned that there are those who are not as open minded and respectful as I am, and that there will be people who do the exact same, or even worse to the new President. When that happens, remember that you have lost your right to be upset with them. This is America and they have every right to do exactly what you had the right to do. The goal in this life and this country is to evolve and accept that you don’t need to do such things.

In the next 4 years (and maybe even 8), I will not be looking for Changes, I will be looking for choices. Mine, Mr. Obama’s, and everyone else’s. Let’s hope that we all make the right ones.

Leave a Reply