The Five Strands of A Sedentary Empress

Just...Ugh.

So I thought to myself, don't write about politics anymore, because people believe in what they want to believe in, and even when they know they're wrong, pride keeps them from making the appropriate choice. You see, even when some people have nothing, and their house is something like a shack, and their children are sent off to battle in a war that ultimately started because of a self-serving lie, and they can't afford to pay to look after whatever ailment is threatening to kill them, they will still vote for the people responsible for all of their hardships, because they are too prideful/stupid to look at the situation for what it is.

M. belongs to an aviation forum, and occasionally a thread of political nature will pop up, moreso lately for obvious reasons. Tonight, the discussion was about who people were planning to vote for in the upcoming American election, and M. was surprised by the responses. It seems as though they were all voting for Palin, which is odd given that she's not running for President and is only the running mate, but somehow that's what they've decided. The reasons given basically boiled down to two things: 1)she's hot, and 2) she's tough.

Look...(sigh), you bunch of morons, first of all, are you kidding me? She's hot? Seriously? Is that all women need to be in order to run your country for you? And Hillary thought she'd get votes by being smart and competent, what a fool. Frankly, I'm insulted for women everywhere, because this is what it all boils down to when you look at it: maybe we are just sexual objects after all. It's a broad statement (pun intended), but when I watched snippets of the Republican convention and saw military men wearing buttons which said 'Vote for the Hot Chick', I wanted to smash their faces in. This is what you're willing to die for? A woman who is mediocre at best, but who can fill out a skirt fairly well and pretend to be tough when everyone knows that her speech was something out of a PTA meeting, or a high school clique. She's a Heather. It was all fed to her, the lines and the strategy, and I'm sure she's just as confused as anyone is as to why she's there, but damn if she isn't enjoying her moment.

Is she tough? Well, she certainly has a big mouth, but even her voice is mouse-like and unconvincing. I was surprised when I heard all the talk about her 'hitting it out of the park' with her speech at the convention, mostly because I thought her speech was full of inaccuracies, and the tone was flat and uninspiring. She did alright with making sarcastic and low-level remarks about Obama/Biden, but it was sophomoric and desperate in my view. Childish, even. I could not understand how she would be perceived as anything different, but again, her supporters thought she was gutsy and determined. Starry-eyed mouth-breathers.

You see, the Republicans did it right. They did not overestimate the intelligence of their supporters. They saw that there was jealousy over the so-called 'celebrity' of Barack Obama, and because it was all they had on him, and because they couldn't beat it, they joined it. They found a young, fiery woman and they made her their celebrity, effectively monopolizing the mainstream media with their sensational pick, thus effectively rendering Obama mute. It's all about Palin now, all her skeletons and her plucky spirit, and the followers walk around with their mouths open, somehow believing that this is a good thing. They are starstruck by her because she's not a gray-haired old man, and because she's supposedly had a child recently (I say supposedly to appease the ones who suspect the baby isn't hers, but I personally think he is), and her sexuality is not ambiguous, which it was with Hillary. She's a red-blooded, NRA supportin', abortion opposer who seems to have some issues with regard to her personal life. She's got all the answers for the people she doesn't know, but hasn't the foggiest as to how to conduct herself amongst the ones she does. She's had an affair with her husband's partner? You see, whereas Republicans take issue with Bill for such a thing, with her it's 'sexy'. It makes her 'hot'. It shows her prowess, her lioness streak, the blood on her teeth, and of course, lipstick. There's Troopergate, and her Bridge to Nowhere flip-flopping, and the fact that she basically has no experience, no matter how much some of the Republicans try to make it look like she has. The fact is, they will make themselves believe anything, because it's convenient.

I'm offended by the way some of the people feel her physical appeal is what makes her the better man/woman for the job. I am astounded by the lack of intelligence in the people who proudly state that this is all she needs to run a country. John was shrewd when he went for the sex appeal rather than the smarts. His supporters are clearly not bright enough to see past it. Now, they have their own celebrity.

It might be unfair of me. She might be as smart as a whip and well able to handle whatever comes her way, and I'm being facetious because I'm a stubborn Liberal. This might be the case, but I don't think so, and if people don't start opening their eyes, things are going to get much worse.

I said as a joke a while ago that Republicans could probably watch Bush run up to a churchtower with an assault rifle and start picking people off while laughing maniacally and they'd still find a way to justify it. There doesn't seem to be a great deal of common sense in these people, and it freaks me out.

My solution is simple: record the vote of every citizen, and if the person they elect leads them to war, then those citizens should be the ones sent off to fight. If that administration obliterates the economy, those who voted for them would be taxed double in order to rebuild it. This would be called 'Accountability For Your Choice'. I'd love to see how that would play out. I bet a lot of people would look a little more closely at who they were selecting before casting a ballot, and they'd be a little less forgiving in the event of outright imcompetence. Seems just crazy enough to work.

I can't figure out why the bad guys keep winning. Clinton did a great job as President, and he got a little on the side, and that was what people chose to focus on, rather than on all of his successes. Look at what his successor has done and no one has tried to oust him. There's something incredibly odd about all of that.

And I'm done with this for now. It angers me, makes me unreasonable and I'm sure there are all kinds of people who disagree with me about this. The thing is, it would be interesting to see someone who supports these people end up affected by something like a hurricane, or an unexpected/high risk pregnancy, job loss or the war, continue to wage support for the ones who refuse to help them. It would be interesting to see how 'hot chick' fits into their reasoning then.

I'm amazed by all of it.