State of the Union

I'm getting more and more curious. From a psychological/sociological standpoint that is. There seems to be a bandwagon coming through and I see more and more folks jumping right on. Maybe the wagon was always there and I've always been so politically lazy that I've either not noticed it or not noticed me subtly joining in as well. I must admit I believe I was guilty of being quite unjustifiably biased around election time but to me that's like game day. I hate whomever plays OSU on game day and will root against them but if the other guys win I can accept it. I won't spend hours talking about why they suck (even though they beat my guys) or following them around and waiting for them to make mistakes. I can acknowledge that we all win some and we all lose some. I can accept their strengths and my guy's weaknesses and visa versa.

Now in politics "my guys" are chosen randomly. Okay, only somewhat randomly. I lean left on most things and I'm also a sucker for a woman or any minority in power. But I'm also influenced by my household which can get tricky. Since there typically aren't many choices my default vote goes to whomever I deem better looking. Which I might add is about as intelligent a system as the one most people I know currently utilize.

I am curious if people actually are as highly informed about the facts of what Obama is doing and has done as their opinions seem to warrant. Or if they see a lot of other people cutting on him and thinking they'd like to get in on it. I will admit right now I am not informed at all. But he is the president. He also is a politician. All politicians by trade deserve our distrust. We all should keep a healthy skepticism that will help hold him to a high standard as much as is possible. However, regardless of what any president does I keep a fairly consistent view of the world at large which is one of two things at any given moment. Things are either:

1.) Going to hell in a handbasket. A trend that started sometime after the glorious 50's and continues on a more or less downward spiral to this day.

or

2.) Things are progressing, humans are evolving and the good ol' days ain't always as good as they seem. Thank you my esteemed source, Billy Joel.

I am not sure if I can express what exactly I am getting at here but the partisan policital system seems necessary from a democratic perspective. And I mean democratic in the way it was meant before people used that term to label one of the major political parties. At the same time it seems when people express their views based on any sort of deep identification with either of the two major political parties it leads to the eradication of common sense. It reminds me a bit of middle school where I couldn't be friends with someone because she wasn't a jock, or a cheerleader, or a in the band or whatever. I was perfectly fine being around her and may even think she's swell but since the group I identify with doesn't condone cheerleading, or sports, or whatever then I have to cut on her or think less of her either sublty or blatantly. It's all so strange. There is a word for that....groupthink. Yes, that's it. Don't get me wrong. Both sides do this.

Do we think Bush would be a better fit after the last bandwagon of insults and criticisms? Do we think McCain would handle all of this better? If so, how are we all feeling about Palin as second in command right about now? Ross Perot? Mitt Romney? Hilary Clinton? Mike Huckabee? I'm just saying fill in the blank with any name or party you want and you still have a major, catastrophic earthquake in Haiti. You still have insurgents or jihads or other religious uprisings in Afghanastan, Iraq, Iran, the Gaza Strip. It's still gonna be poor as hell, dry and hot as hell and technologically regressed all over the place. People are still gonna go hungry. Many, by the way, a few short miles away. There will still exist countries that both want and need assistance and who will resent said assistance. Our guys will still get shot at when trying to "help" those people. The religious right will still have a voice in this country and will still want to overturn Roe v Wade, etc based not on any social or medical research but based on the church they go to and their interpretation of the world. The same ones that call premarital sex a sin and refuse to agree to comprehensive sex education and who are against any type of social welfare. And all the while teens will continue to have sex both protected and unprotected. And I emphasize continue. You know what I'm talking about.(Do my views on religion come through too strongly here?)

I guess my deep down feeling is I am tired of hearing and reading snarky comments about the president. It's just too easy. And when a crack or a joke is too easy it just makes it dumb. I was not even a fan of Obama during the election. I'm not a fan now. I'm also not against him. Some people say he's done nothing in his first year. Well, I've done remarkably less than him in my first 41 years. Today I'm thinking the good ol' days ain't always as good as they seem, so for now, I will keep my healthy skepticism close at hand while keeping my mind open.