Thursday, November 15, 2012

Standing on the Stump

After the election, when everyone was predicting all that gloom and doom, I decided it was my turn to speak my mind on the old FaceBook.  I rarely converse in the language of politics, but I have been thinking about this for a while, so here is what I posted:

It is my turn to jump up on the stump for a minute. It will probably be TLDR, so if your attention span is short (like mine), go look for some pictures of puppies instead of reading this.

(TLDR: Politics suck-Don't blame one person-quit yr whining and get back to work-I may be Jaded)

I'm not going to Google a bunch of useless stats to prove my point. This is just my opinion and we all know th
ose are just like assholes, everyone has one and they usually stink. But here we go.

I have had five different commanders-in-chief (CIC) during my 29 plus years of serving my country. I have to say that I can't completely complain about any of them. Some were better than others, but I think being in the military, a lot of the bad was buffered in some ways. I kept getting annual pay raises, although sometimes not as much as I wanted, and my life has generally improved each year of my service.

Now, this improvement really has nothing to do with who my CIC was. It has everything to do with having a steady job, getting a decent wage and not living beyond my means. I can't see how some people think ONE person can affect so many others. It just isn't so in my book.

The CIC is the top of the top. Only in the most dire circumstances does the CIC get involved in the leading of the troops. He has plenty of leaders who usually handle that job, but ultimately we all answer to the CIC, and we all serve him, no matter which political party he (or we) affiliate with.

I abhor politics. Having been pretty close to the political process for quite a few years here in DC, I have seen the messy, ugly underbelly of politics. I don't like what I see. First of all, politicians don't truly serve the public. They serve their own power. This is super quid-pro-quo land. Nothing gets done unless the politician with the power is going to get something for his or her cooperation. The losers in most of these "deals" are usually the public. Now, I won't say EVERY politician is corrupt, but finding a good one is harder than finding Waldo in a candy cane factory.

The world isn't going to end in the next four years (but if it does, I'm prepared, as everyone should be). Please stop spouting your gloom and doom (you know who you are). Just learn how to keep getting on and you will get on. In four years, you can start posting your negative propaganda against the person you perceive as your enemy and I will promptly mark your posts as spam and move on. (a new hobby of mine). I challenge everyone to not post ANYTHING negative. Try to post ONLY the positive things your candidate will do. I bet you can't do it.

Over the years I have registered as a Republican, Democrat, an Independent and a Libertarian. As you can see, I really don't "Belong" to any one party. I HATE the duopoly of the two party system and since I am all for Liberty and smaller Government, my latest and longest affiliation has been as a Libertarian. Also, don't get me started on the Electoral College. I don't like how that works, but it is what it is, so I'm not going to dwell on it. I will continue to vote for the person I want to have a chance of leading our country, no matter what the odds are of him or her actually getting elected. When you vote for the "lesser of two evils" you are still voting for evil, so think about that the next time you advise someone to do that.

Each of us is given a vote to use as we see fit. No one can tell us how to use it. It is ours alone. We can "waste" it or not even cast it if that is what we want to do. It is our decision. Before you go all "if you don't vote, you can't complain", I call BULLSHIT. No matter what you do with your one true vote, you never give up any of your rights and that includes the 1st Amendment right of free speech. So spare me the whining. In the awesome words of Rush (The Rock Group, not Limbaugh) - "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice" (I know they are Canadians, but I love Rush). It's called Free Will.

I may be jaded. I have had it pretty easy being in the Military for the last three decades. My pay is ok, I get tax free money to help pay for my house, my food and a few other things. My healthcare for myself and my family has been very reasonable and we are so used to the Primary Care Manager way of doing healthcare, that nothing fazes us anymore. I may be in for a very rude awakening come next September when I take off my uniform for the last time and finally enter the scary world of the civilian. Who knows, maybe I'll be one of those rabid political commentators who feel so strong about who gets elected (but I will try to follow my own rule of only posting the POSITIVE things my candidate will do and never post or even "like" any NEGATIVE Shit) Tune in next year to see if I eat crow or maybe, just maybe, find a way to keep on living a decent life no matter who lives in the White House.

If you are still reading, I commend you for sticking with my blather. I welcome your comments, but there is no need to repost, like, share or anything else you don't feel like doing.

Carry on,
Joe

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