Gimme a Break!

It's July 17, 2007, and that means that it's time for me to wax political. We're a year and a half away from electing a new president, and as the excitement builds, I'm happy to share my opinion.
Did you know that there's a cartoon series called Lil' Bush? It's on Comedy Central every Saturday morning, (which technically satisfies the FCC requirement that every station provide a modicum of children's programming), but in truth, it's very sophisticated, adult, political satire. Which according to experts who study this kind of thing, only serves to fuel the apathy that consitently prevents young liberal voters from actually voting. Which in my mind, is just another fine example of why freedom of speech as guaranteed by the Constititution is nothing to be feared. If all of the totalitarian governments throughout the world only knew this secret truth, they could stop worrying about losing their jobs, relax a little bit, and laugh a whole lot more.
Unfortunately, I have to admit that I'm already getting bored with the run up to the election. At this time, it appears that the Republican front runner is Fred Thompson, who's not even running. Huh? Well, at least he's another actor, and if history does in fact repeat itself, that could turn out ..... O.K.
For me, the high water mark of the American Political System was reached in 1998, when Jesse Ventura was elected the 38th governor of the great state of Minnesota. A.k.a Jesse "The Body" Ventura, a renouned professional wrestler, defeated 2 other "legitimate" candidates in what can only be described as the greatest political smack down in U.S. history. Jesse's other credentials included: retired Navy SEAL, body guard for the Rolling Stones, actor, talk radio host, NFL color commentator and mayor of a small town in Minnesota. Jesse embodied all that is good and safe and right with America. Who wouldn't want this guy to run their state for them?
Apparantly Minnesotans did, and in large numbers. By the end of his first year in office, he had earned a 73% approval rating, the highest in Minnesota state history. Bumper stickers proudly boasted "My governor can beat up your governor". The honeymoon only lasted for another year though, as a litany of "controversial remarks" (surprise) began to erode their confidence in his goobernatorial abilities. After 4 years in office, Jesse "The Body" Ventura did not seek reelection.
Jesse's meteoric political career represents what I have long suspected to be the essence of the American political system. That like professional wrestling, it's mostly fake. Wikepedia defines Pro Wrestling as "the performance, management, and marketing of a form of entertainment that is based on simulated elements of catch wrestling, mock combat and theatre." My apologies to all the Gomers out there who are hearing this for the first time,but THE OUTCOMES ARE PREDETERMINED. I'm not saying that elections are rigged, just that they're just for show, that's all. "We the people" individually decide who we're going to root for, and sometimes become passionately engaged in this mock struggle between good and evil. In a good election, our candidate wins, and we get to gloat in their victory right up untill we find out that, after a while, nothing really changes. If our candidate should lose, well that's not so bad. We get to criticize, mock and accuse the incumbant for at least 4 years. Likewise, nothing really changes. The issues are still the same: immigration, education, security, abortion, poverty, pollution, energy dependance, racism, inflation, taxation, health care, free enterprise, big government, ...... continue unaffected and undetected untill the advent of the next political season. Then the pundants, promoters and profiteers begin to work their magic and cast their spells upon their loyal but naive fan base, untill we're all cheering or geering ouselves into an emotional feeding frenzy called the electoral process. The ideal contest would be Hillary vs. Condoleeza Rice,(Yea, girl wrestling), but alas, Condie has no interest in running for office, ever.
Meanwhile, it's all about the money. But maybe that's the good news. Whoever is really running this country, is actually doing a pretty good job. The economy's strong. Our standard of living is still the highest in the world, and steadily rising. Maybe the effective input/interferance of "we the people" would just mess things up.
Nevertheless, I'm still going to vote. I'll continue to pursue the truth in the midst of all the emotional hype and deception.
No deja los bastardos a desanimarte.