A Powerless People

Sometimes following politics can lead to depression. How did we become so powerless? Supposedly, we are a country "of the people, by the people, for the people." But in reality -- not so much. 

I am a registered Republican (no surprise there). But I must say, my loyalty is beginning to wane. I find myself wondering, first of all, how we ended up with John McCain as our candidate. I have not yet talked to a fellow Republican who is on his wagon. He's driving the thing, and Republicans are grudgingly following - with the dust being kicked up in their faces... They're generally irritated by both the wagon and the driver. Ever since McCain chose Palin as his running mate, she's been dutifully riding the back of the wagon, fanning a rug in an effort to disperse the dust off to the sides. But as McCain whips the horses at the front into a frenzy, Palin's fanning is becoming less and less effective. 

I am usually a glutton for political punishment... but even I cannot stomach sitting through an entire debate between McCain and Obama. It's like watching two children arguing over "who is worser." 

Explain to me this: Why would a Republican presidential candidate, after seeing the American people up in arms over the idea of a "bailout," suspend his campaign and rush back to Washington in order to ensure a bailout? September 23rd, CNN ran the headline, "Needed Financial Bailout Rewards Bad Behavior." On the 26th, the headlines "Poll: Most Americans Against Bush's Bailout Plan" and "Poll: Bush's Bailout Plan Not Popular" both ran by FOX News and UPI, respectively. It almost seems like McCain decided to stick his finger to the wind, figure out exactly what would alienate his base the most, and then took that course of action. It was the worst political move he could have made. 

We appear to have a bunch of nimrods in both the House and the Senate who refuse to listen to what the people want. Fine... but then the House should have just passed the bill the first time instead of waiting until it was laden with so much pork it was actually "oinking" while sitting at the trough of the public treasury.

Now here we sit, 700 billion dollars later -- the stock market still crashing, the financial system still crumbling... and McCain gets out on the campaign trail and pushes forward the idea of another 300 billion dollar bailout for homeowners who aren't paying their mortgages on time. Well, now... THERE'S an idea! Why didn't we all think of that?? That will certainly fix things! After all, these unfortunate souls were "taken advantage of" by a greedy Wall Street, right? It's only right that we offer to pay down their mortgages for them to a more affordable level. That's certainly going to fix a volatile situation in the housing market... OH! But wait! What about all those people who also bought at market peak? Those who are upside down by sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars and yet are still dutifully paying on their mortgages? Have we thought about the fact that those people are also being asked to pay yet an extra measure? And what about those who didn't purchase at peak, those who watched their equity go up, up, up... and then down, down, down... without purchasing all that fun stuff with the equity in the meantime? Yes, those people are then being asked to pay for the fluff of others. I honestly can't think of a better way to make a wreckage out of our system. But bully for McCain... way to win the trust of the people. (Do you detect a moment's sarcasm? Can you see my eyes rolling way back into my head??)

So now I'm being asked to go to the polls and vote. My choices are between foolishness and utter recklessness. Hmmm... which one shall I choose? Do I want to watch my country die a slow and painful death? Or do I want to order a quick trip to the guillotine? Lovely.

I recently told my husband that it's like McCain is trying to make it more difficult for me to vote. I'm once again thinking I might as well stay home. And my husband jumped on that Bob Barr wagon again... telling me I should go and cast my vote for him. Well, I just might do that. I don't know... of course, the only way I would is if we carpool. A vote for Barr isn't really worth the gas it will take to get me to the voting booth.

Ah, well... maybe I should vote for McCain. Maybe I should vote for Barr. Maybe I should stay home that day... or maybe I should stop blogging when I'm so angry.