Election 2008

          Well, the Democratic primary is almost upon us and, as has been the case in so many elections during my lifetime, the Dems appear once again about to implode.  John McCain has stated that he’s not going to withdraw the troops from Iraq any sooner than the current administration would, and I’m left, like a lot of you out there, to wonder who the hell am I going to vote for this year.

            The challenge I have with politicians is the same challenge I face with most places of worship.  No one available to me shares my exact viewpoints.  We’ll save the church and religious discussion for another day, but the political one is something that has to be addressed right now.  I’m a Libertarian, but I’m not very happy with the way my party is currently being run and I’m certainly not overjoyed to see a Republican-in-disguise named Barr trying to win the nomination of it.

            This year, as has been the temptation to me in so many years past, I’m seriously considering penciling in Al Bundy, Homer Simpson, or Herman Munster for President.  I figure any one of them will be just about as effective as the choices I see before me.  I can’t vote for either Barack or Hillary, as both of them have vowed a National Healthcare Plan, and even though I myself am facing a personal healthcare coverage crisis right now, I can’t fathom anything as idiotic as this idea.  Just look at the droves of people from Canada that cross the border every day to see doctors here in the states, because the waiting lists are so long and the quality of care not as good.  Look at the sub-par quality of care in Great Britain, and again the lines of patients waiting for surgeries.  It’s the same in every country that has adopted socialized medicine.  That doesn’t even take into account that taxes would have to be raised in order to pay for the new system and that is something that raises my ire, big fucking time.

            I certainly don’t think I can bring myself to vote for McCain either, as I am for the immediate withdrawal of our men and women from this fucking religious and civil war in Iraq.  I’m also for some type of immediate action regarding the gas crisis, which shouldn’t even be that hard to correct, but again, McCain seems content to stay the course with those assholes from OPEC holding us over so many billions of barrels.

            So, like so many elections I’ve seen before in my lifetime, I’m left to choose a choice of lesser evils.  Not that it matters that much in terms of the Presidential race, as ultimately, my vote will not really count.  It’s the electoral college that’s going to elect the President, not me, and that is just one more broken cog in a system clogged with broken parts.

            If there were a candidate that I could vote for, they probably wouldn’t be electable.  I would vote for someone who wants to change radically the system itself.  Someone who would do away with all special interest groups, lobbyists, and CAP programs, so our leaders could make autonomous decisions without undue influence.  I would vote for someone who would cut out the permanent benefits and annual pay raises of Congress and the Senate in order to establish better benefits for our veterans.  I would vote for someone who would bring our people home from Iraq to a hero’s welcome and shower them with not just verbal praise, but whatever they needed to get their lives back in order.  I would vote for someone who would show just as much outrage and action about the situations in Darfur and Burma as they do in oil-rich Iraq.  I would vote for someone who would ease our overcrowded prison population by legalizing marijuana and freeing those prisoners that are incarcerated for possession of a God-given natural herb.  I would vote for someone who is aghast at the pittance of monies that are paid to go for research in finding a cure for AIDS, Cancer, and other diseases that can no longer wait.  I would vote for someone who would fix our current healthcare system by making the problem industries, namely Insurance and Pharmaceuticals, step up and do the right thing by holding their feet to the fire instead of coddling them.  I would vote for someone who would usher in real competition and incentives for self-sufficiency in the areas of public utilities, instead of allowing the current monopolistic companies to hike their fucking rates any time they want.  I would vote for someone who would move the EPA and other environmental alarmists out of the way and pass legislation to tap every oil reserve we have on our coasts, as well as building new refineries.  I would vote for someone who would put the power of education back in the hands of the states so they could again focus on learning and not trying to pass stupid tests in order to secure federal funding.  I would vote for someone who would shrink the size of the Federal government while at the same time restoring our individual civil liberties.  I would vote for someone who would fix our broken and unfair tax-code, maybe do away with income tax and usher in The Fair Tax.  I would vote for someone who would fix our broken judicial system, where some hardcore criminals get off too easily, while at the same time, some innocent people go to prison.  I would vote for someone who wants to make things better and is not satisfied with the status fucking quo.

            However, the person I would vote for doesn’t exist this election year, and for the first time in my adult life, I’m considering not voting for the office of President at all.  One thing I can tell you for sure, I will not vote for any incumbent in any office, because I for one am sick of business as usual.  I don’t want any more stimulus checks or money back from the government at all, I want change!

Stumble it!