How the Republicans let us down

I don't think either party is worth a damn, actually. They're both interested in power and position, and nothing more. Statesmanship is dead. However, the current miserable state of affairs is what we have, so we must live with it.

With that said, here in the US we have a two-party system which out of necessity must be oppositional. I'm not sure why people in the 18-35 year-old category get riled about this, especially those with edumacation. Opposition and contrast is the core of deconstruction, itself the core of postmodernism which they hold so dear. But young, so-called politically aware people complain mightily about gridlock in Congress. Maybe that's the way it's supposed to be, the only way that good ideas worthy of legislation should ever get out of that mess. In my view, the problems come when the two parties work together; then we don't stand a chance.

The Democrats are what they are, and will always be: the party of Wealth Redistribution. They claim to be for the common man, but no one ever seems dismayed by the hypocrisy that nearly every one of them in Congress is a career politician, has almost never held a real job, and yet they're mostly all millionaires. Last I checked, jobs in public service don't pay that well.

So the Democrats are as they have been since Moses. But the Republicans... Yes, they're millionaires all right, but they're the party of Wealth Reclamation; we expect them to be so. On the surface, this seems to be a clear contrast, but not so. I mean, what happens when a bunch of millionaires (on both sides of the aisle) get together? They talk about how they can make more millions. And so we have our political system.

The Repubs are different in so far as really coming from wealth, and unlike the Democrats make no bones about the silver spoons which fed every orifice. So, they're not as hypocritical as the Dems, and even try to find ways to make and keep more money. If others in the lower classes come along for the ride, that's fine by them.

The Dems, on the other hand, want the lower classes to remain so, because that's their power base. And when people start getting into upper tax brackets, their interests suddenly shift to - you guessed it - Wealth Reclamation.

So this good for Republicans, right? Wrong. They still fail us. Why? Because they play into the Dems game of trying to make a "pleasant" or "nice" candidate loved by all. In doing so, they fail to offer a viable oppositional candidate. They mean to, but the Repubs end up doing the same song and dance as the Democrats, shift their positions to suit the largest poll, verge on lying and sometimes flat out fib. All of which makes them look all the more disingenuous - like the Democrats. This rightfully confuses the masses, who themselves are, I'm sad to say, not politically astute.

People want, need and will vote for someone in whom they can have faith, whose performance gives us pride in our nation, and, simply, is honest; someone who will make hard choices but choices that are for the good of the US and its citizens. But every time, we get the same thing: a promise to break from the past, a promise of more and better things to come for everyone, things which are just not possible. These things are plastic-spoon-fed to us. And like suckers, we lap it up, or at least accept it, every time.

Either party could succeed handily, and maintain that success, all they have to do is stop playing games and treat The People like adults. We can handle it.

But that's how dumb they are. And we are.

More on this later... I need a clove cigarette...