I feel reasonably certain that I’ve never made political commentary on this site before. There are several reasons for this. One is that I don’t tend to follow politics all that much. This stems from many things, not the least of which is my complete and utter disdain for the whole process. It seems like it’s almost better if you don’t win, because then you get to complain about the person/party that’s currently in office, and tell all of the city/state/country that if only you had been elected, things would be so much different.

I know better than to say that my life goes by unimpeded by the political process. Without it, I don’t have the roads to drive on to go to work, or quite possibly a job to go to without initiative for small business owners. And so on. But I’ll come right out and say it…I really don’t see that much first-hand contact with the government and politics in general in my day-to-day life. And that’s exactly how I like it.

The above statement probably gave you a pretty good insight into what I believe politically, but if you require me to say red or blue, I’ll tell you I’m a Republican. This is not to say that I’d always vote a straight ticket, or for that matter, that I restrict my beliefs into one of the two parties. For example, I like some of what the Libertarian Party thinks. But there’s also some of it that I very strongly disagree with.

Anyway, I realize that the “laissez-faire” style I like is not the case for many people around the country. Whether you’re trying to convince someone that another tax cut is just what the economy needs to continue moving forward, or that the social topic du jour (I won’t say it here, but it rhymes with “day carriage”) applies to you in a specific way and you feel shorted by the system, there are plenty of people out there who are trying to get ahead via the political process.

The problem is that they think by advocating one of two sides or candidates, that this will be the case.

Cynical? Probably. Realize, however, that I’m not blind; I know that there have been incredible economic and social strides made due to the hard work of a system in place. And I know there’s a lot that the government does that I can’t as an individual. And for that, I’m grateful. But the problem that I have is that most everyone believes that if only their candidate gets in, will anything reasonably useful get done, and fail to realize that in a lot of circumstances, they could get what they need done, done.

A prime example? How about national healthcare? Now, I come from the perspective of a person who has health insurance, via his job. I realize that not everyone is like this. I know this because until I had my job, I was one of those people. What did I do? I bought health insurance.

But why can’t we just regulate it and let everyone have the same thing? Because I don’t want or need the same thing as everyone else, and I certainly don’t see the need to be part of subsidizing millions of people who couldn’t see worth it to pay for on their own insurance. The policies are out there.

But that’s unfair…not everyone can afford it. So get a job that pays for it, or at least pays you enough so you can. And don’t tell me that jobs like that are not available. One trip to Monster.com tells me that there are plenty of jobs that are available for anyone who’s qualified. Not all of them require Master’s degrees. In other words, if you want health insurance, it should be like anything else…you work for it. If you want to take your chances, that’s fine, but don’t expect me to foot your bill.

That’s cruel. No, that’s life. I know that only too well; trust me on this one. I’ve learned quite a bit about the insurance business very quickly in the past few months. And it hasn’t changed my opinion. To say nothing of the drawbacks and the restrictions placed on each of us as a result of running such a system. Canada has a population less than the state of California, and their system is notorious for its ineffeciency. What happens when you increase the number of patients tenfold?

But this isn’t a diatribe on healthcare specifically. I personally get angry when all the papers and anyone who has a weblog in Europe say that they were surprised, shocked, and saddened that “almost 60 million people could be so stupid.” I’ve heard that my vote went to an idiot warmonger who only cares about oil. I’ve heard that my vote is 1/60,000,000 of the problem with today’s USA, and that anyone who’s smart is considering a move to Toronto right about now.

This isn’t to harp on Democrats. In fact, I can’t even listen to the majority of Republican talk radio hosts because they’re windbags who refuse to even acknowledge that there’s another opinion, and if someone tries to engage them in conversation, they interrupt and interject, and finally cut off the caller and tell their side again before going to commercial break for another product that they happen to endorse. Instead of putting forth issues, half of the time they just make fun of whoever is “featured” on a radio clip.

You want another reason I dislike the process so much?

• “Bush lied…people died.”
• “Kerry lied about his war record…why would he tell the truth about anything else?”
• “Bush is a hardhead who goes blindly forward even when he knows he’s wrong.”
• “Kerry just tells the people what they want to hear; he can’t make up his own mind.”
• “The Republican party is the result of the unholy marriage of big business and the religious right.”
• “Think hard-working taxpayers should support everyone who just wants welfare? You’re a bleeding-heart liberal.”

Rhetoric, rhetoric, everywhere…

Once again, call me a cynic, but a lot of the time, when it all comes down to brass tacks, politics is not about doing what’s right for America. Politics is about power, pure and simple. And that doesn’t change whether you’re red or blue. It’s about power, and the things you’re willing to say or do in order to get it. And that, above most everything else, is why I don’t like it.

Okay. Rant over. Now back to the normal silliness you’re used to seeing here.