Rocket Scientist

I don’t write many political articles. There are several reasons for this.

First, as a whole, I don’t like politicians. I think that, in general, they are opportunists who play off the lowest common denominator, concerned about themselves rather than the nation they’re supposed to represent and are all about power instead of responsibility. I’m not saying that perception applies to all politicians, but I’m not convinced that is more often true than not.

Secondly, I generally eschew labels. Liberal/conservative/radical/moderate/libertarian/populist/etc., I don’t fit neatly into any particular box. I agree on some things and not on others. I think of each issue individually and decide for myself how I feel about it, what I think is the right thing to do and *why*. So, when issues are being touted, I’m often in the middle on a couple, far on one side on one and far to the other on another.

Thirdly, I live in an environment where the prevailing winds are overwhelmingly conservative, so much so that a vote for anyone liberal is all but thrown away. Nor is logic likely to sway anyone to my way of thinking. This area is so closely attuned to the oil industry that no one other thinking can really slip in. That can be disheartening.

Fourthly, there are few topics that can get ugly faster than politics. Even if the majority of the participants are civil and intelligent, only a couple of ugly name callers can make the whole discussion chaos. I don’t think I need to tell you how ugly it’s been out there.

Lastly, to be frank, I think most of us have had about all the politics we can stomach. It’s been an ugly year, with a lot of frightening behavior by our government. Many are shell-shocked or just too sickened to want to spend any more time on the topic. I can understand it, I really can.

But, I’m writing one today anyway because I think it’s important. Especially now. Especially today. The people in government right now have done an abysmal job, particularly that last eight years and the future is stark; we have been spied on, lied to, manipulated and misused. It is possible that this is not going to change, but I have to do what I can to make the situation better.   In my opinion, the only potential bright spot right now out there is Obama.

I have heard the anti-Obama nonsense. All I can say is that, in my opinion, the only way that someone could take the ridiculous and inflammatory garbage at face value is a deep and desperate need to grasp straws because they so don’t want Obama for some other but more embarrassing reasons.

I’m not going to slam McCain or Palin. If their recent behavior hasn’t disgusted you, if you think they are grownups with our best interest in mind, nothing I say is likely to have an effect on you. But I am concerned, deeply, about keeping the republicans in power. We need change and we need it bad.

I read some thought provoking editorials in the New York Times today. The first asked me what kind of country I want to have. I found it thought-provoking and recommend reading it: Bob Herbert’s “Amusing, but Not Funny”. He noted what I noted, that intellectualism and intelligence were becoming bad words, were stigmatized, and what did that say about our country. Well, one thing it tells me is that there is a large faction of people who think having a stupid populace is a good thing. I do not. What kind of future will we have in this country if we continue to stigmatize intelligence and we dissuade our best and brightest from taking advantage of their potential. I think Obama respects and values education and recognizes its importance for the future. At the least, he surrounds himself with intelligent and capable people, something we haven’t seen in our current administration.

I also found an editorial graph showing how the different administrations had affected the economy this past century and this one, clearly demonstrating how much better we consistently have been under democratic leadership. I scratched my head to try to understand why this might be and it occurred to me that, starting from about FDR, democrats have been relatively focused on we the people. Apparently, investing in the American public has apparently better for the economy than investing in Big Business. Why? Well, educated and employed people want more for their children than they had themselves, so we have a pool of intelligent and capable people we might not have had otherwise. Big Business is also dependent on customers. Helping business instead of the customers doesn’t help big business in the long run. That’s probably part of it, too. But the other part, in my opinion, is that pouring money into big business doesn’t add to corporate wealth. Big companies don’t exist to be rich in an of themselves. They are there to make people rich, people who, truth told, already are rich. If you help a big company to a big profit, it goes into someone’s pocket, not into the economy. Bottom line.

So, when people talk to me about Obama wanting to do all these “entitling” actions, most of which I support anyway, I have to say, what’s better for the country? Investing in companies that will likely siphon the money in to pockets already heavy or investing in the populace of this country? If we keep doing the former and not the latter, we’ll end up with collapse and despair while our wealthy elite toddle off to their Tuscan villas or Bahama getaways. But, if we invest in our people, in the people that make our country what it is, we stand a chance of pulling this country back on the road we want it to be on. Some of us think we’ve never left (though I think they’re part of the problem, actively working to be shafted by those they defend); some of us just want us to get on the path. I think, again, that Obama is from that latter group.

There was one other editorial I found thought provoking in the NYT today: David Brooks’ “Big Government Ahead.” He talked about how the current economic situation will force our government to abandon any attempts at fiscal responsibility in order to correct the problems. Here’s the sad part, I could see that. What’s more, I even could see what he was saying as the right thing to do. In the end, we’re still talking about investing in the people of this country. Damn, about time we did that.

I don’t tell people what to vote as a general rule, even now. If you have really made up your mind, nothing I say will change it. But, if you haven’t, I want you to consider making a change this year, gambling again, this time on someone who at least says he wants to put the people first. After all, the other side isn’t even pretending to do so.

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