Fear has gotten the best of me. I sought high and low as well as side to side, only to find what seems to be an unsuccessful venture. In these dire times of political despair where do we turn? As it stands neither side offers refuge. I went away from the money trail in the hopes of avoiding the interests of big business; but, in doing so I found nothing but credit card schemers, ambulance chasers, religious fanatics, anti-humanists, bigots, racists, and a whole lot of sanctimonious preachers filled with underlying hate. I have not yet thrown the towel in regards to finding a worthwhile candidate on the senatorial level. The presidential game is big business. It is the trickle-down which interests me most. Who is passing our laws? Who really has the Americans’ concerns in their sites? I am disappointed with the lack of champions as of late. Where are they? The great lack of heart and concern from our political leaders has finally gotten under my skin.

Without the money and influential backing one can’t get very far in politics. We would all like to believe that the elections are about the issues. We know good and well that this is not the case. The electoral process is more about allegiance to your party and your tax bracket than the issues. Now, we can’t blame the rich for wanting to keep their money, and we can’t blame the poor for wanting to survive. Yet somewhere in-between that age-old battle of class lay Middle America. Middle America; our hard-working, back-breaking average Americans who keep this country running, slaving way beyond 40 hours a week. Why than does the “middle” get lost in the shuffle? After election-time what happens to the promises? Were they just used as bait in the great lure for votes? Lower taxes, create jobs and end war. Promises. The use of the term “Main Street” in political debates during election-time is nothing less than insulting as well. They might as well use Skid Row, Babi Yar or Guantanamo Bay to get the point across. Part of the American Dream is the right to vote, in the hopes of electing a leader who will fight for your rights and keep this nation from turning into a 1984 type mockup. Again I ask, where do we turn?

Texas Governor Rick Perry’s practice of anti-science permits him to denounce evolution and claim ignorance over the actual age of the Earth. Biblical inerrancy holds no weight with reason, let alone within the political arena. Even Mitt Romney believes the scientist’s claims of man-made carbon involvement with global change. I personally think that Perry is locked in with Texas, I can’t see him breaking out on a Presidential level. Jon Huntsman, former US Ambassador to China (2009-2011), an earnest Republican now in the great state of Texas, makes great claims at; “also fixing our deficit of trust and unity.” Huntsman reacted in a tweet to Perry’s anti-science comments by saying; “To be clear, I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy." The last line sounds more like division within the party than unity. But then again Huntsman publically backs Romney. Hence, allegiance to party. On a side note, we should get something straight; this is nowhere near a promo for the Republican nor Democrat. One can see the economic and spiritual decay currently occurring under Obama’s reign. If we want small government, we could always go and vote for Libertarian Ron Paul. No, he’s Republican. Well there’s always R.Lee Wrights and his Million Vote March. The Libertarian is predominantly anti-war. I can respect that, but we are a military nation. I can’t imagine a candidate running for office with a weak backbone in regards to the military and getting very far. Besides, Libertarians seem to just get bullied around by the media. Nevertheless, I only named a few names, just a very small percentage to emphasize the point. I am not writing an anthology of trivial matters. I have tested the options and I kept coming up with the same answer: our choices are barren. My greatest concern is the degree of apathy among the masses. We don’t know our politicians, let alone their philosophies on the issues. Is the youth embracing their voting rights or is that also swept under the rug with tomorrow’s aspirations? If we follow the voting spikes of the youth (18-24 yrs. old), its highest point was the Nixon/McGovern battle. 1972 was a time of high anxiety and dread in the eyes of the youth. That was their moment to step up and participate. After that, the youth vote lulled until the Bush/Clinton/Perot election and then followed trait and leveled out during and after Bush/Kerry. Obama may have gotten a 2% increase in youth voting, but the youth have been voting on a steady level. It doesn’t change the fact that they too, get brushed over once the elections end.

I feel like I keep going in circles - Dante’s 6th to be exact. The contrast of ethics is usually close among democrat or republican candidates. I voted for Nader in 2000. I knew it was a fruitless effort, but I felt the empowerment of voting. The right to vote is an American privilege and we must embrace that freedom. We must involve ourselves in the political dominion if we want things to change. Do we want things to change? Are we happy with the crisis level of the economy, unemployment and the education system? The state of America is at a serious respite in regard to our nation’s prominence. It’s not who is to blame, it’s who can we elect.

Godspeed,

Doug Jackson
http://www.facebook.com/dougjacksonusa