I'll post the article/rant I wrote for my college's locally-run newspaper in reply to this thread.
Quote:
"Are you voting this year?"
I swear, if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me that question--well, I'd have a lot of money. The truth is, I'm not voting. Why, you might ask? It's all quite simple, really.
America is one of the brightest, smartest, and most universally educated countries in the world. Why, then, are both of our Presidential candidates complete morons? That's right. You heard me correctly. M-o-r-o-n-s. They debate about things that they think they can change. They take weak pot-shots at eachother. Girls, girls. Let's not fight. The war is with Iraq, remember? Oh yeah, that's right. We're "helping" them.
Hey, news flash United States. We're screwed either way. If Bush wins, we get four more years of his bumbling incompetence, and if Kerry wins, we get four years of him afraid to drink the wrong coffee. In all seriousness, as I said before: we're one of the most educated countries in the world. Why do we have two people that are perhaps the least intelligent people I've had the (dis)pleasure of seeing trying to get our votes to run our nation?
Maybe it's just me, but the system is flawed. I know I would never, ever vote for Bush as my representative if I were Republican, and I know that I would never vote Kerry as my representative if I were Democrat. They both have the brain power of my dog. (To put that in perspective, my dog used to run into the kitchen wall.) Now, I understand that this is the way we've been doing this since way back in the day. That's all well and good. Unfortunately, at that time a majority of the population couldn't read. I'm guessing, based on the medium I'm writing in, that you all can read. Just a guess, though.
It's unfortunate that the system is this way; that the two candidates with the most money are the two that are allowed to run for President, though that's the way it's been done in the past. What we have to ask ourselves is this: "why? Why are we still governed like we can't read? What purpose does the Electoral College serve other than to utterly confuse so many people?"
Well, I have the answer.
It serves no purpose.
Now, let me educate some of you and bore others of you with details about the government and how it's run. No, this country is not a Democracy, no matter what Bush wants you to believe. We're a Republic. A Democracy is a government where leaders and elected officials are directly elected by the people. That's not what happens here, and it never will, to my guess. A Republic is where the people elect representatives that feel the normal people are too stupid to elect a leader for themselves, so that those representatives can choose what they think is best for the people (and if you honestly they do what's best for the people...well, we have some issues to discuss).
That being said, wouldn't we be better off in a true Democracy? We obviously have the power to do so, with internet speed being what it is.
I have friends in other countries. Yeah, hooray for me, huh?
The best part about that is that I can ask them what they think of things that are going on in this country. A while ago I asked one of my friends that lives in Britan what he thought of Bush or Kerry being President. This was his reply: "(laughs) Mate, you're screwed either way."
My thoughts exactly. Why can't we have a candidate with some charisma? Why can't we have a candidate that doesn't put himself first, but rather the good of the nation? Why can't there be someone to step in and say, "ok, both of you are morons, go home and read or something. We'll find two other candidates."
Unfortunately, that's not how it works. We're fated to four more years of stupidity, and all that matters now is what kind of stupidity you prefer, I suppose. Bush's incoherent speeches that make you wonder afterward, "what the hell was he talking about?" or Kerry's speeches that make you wonder if he has a life at all. I leave it to you, America. Choose for me, because I won't be held resposible for us hitting ourselves in the head with a baseball bat.