Saturday, October 14, 2006
Well Rounded Up
Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit has a lengthy personal perspective of what the GOP has unnecessarily botched over the last year or so which may or may not lead to the loss of a coveted home in November.
Along with his "partial list" of errors, there is also some pretty good dialogue that follows.
I was talking last night with a fellow polisci major and the one thing that she stressed was that she felt like more and more even politicians weren't making any difference. It is well know that this is the general consensus among the populace, but I am seeing it grow stronger and stronger among the youth in the field of politics.
So of course I reminded her that all politics are local, which I have found to be true over and over again, and that when students place too much of their focus on Washington they tend to lose sight of that. And if you focus on Washington the first thing you will find is that Washington refuses to have anything to do with your difference.
Secondly I expressed my frustration with the two party system as it stands. The majority of this country are moderate, both as far as the citizens are concerned and as far as the politicians are concerned. Unfortunately all we ever hear and see are the squeaky wheels. This is of course because all of the rational moderates out there believe there is no way their voice will count for anything if they try and use it. It is a classic case of a rather intelligent 4th grader forced into silence by the big bully who will toilet dunk him and steal his lunch money if he acts up; and also occasionally for no reason at all.
This is of course no one's fault but our own. Fear of acceptance, or fear of any kind for that matter should never stand in the way of the intelligent getting in their two cents. Still, this is what's happening. So the two party system dominates because their dumb brutes, controlled by sly puppet masters in the wings are the loudest, so they get the most support in terms of sheer numbers, which in turn means the most money.
The problem for the moderates is that by definition they are not the loudest, though they inherently will have more to say. And unfortunately for them they have yet to have the innovative ideas necessary to put themselves on the map. So the $600,000 question is: What will it take for rational individuals who aspire to do great things in politics, to come up with the funding to run a smart, innovative and successful campaign against say, an oil tycoon.
I do not believe this country has given itself so completely over to the NFL that an intelligent, middle of the road kind of guy or gal with a minimal budget and some bangin' ideas doesn't stand a chance. What we need is a whole lot more of a whole little.
Along with his "partial list" of errors, there is also some pretty good dialogue that follows.
I was talking last night with a fellow polisci major and the one thing that she stressed was that she felt like more and more even politicians weren't making any difference. It is well know that this is the general consensus among the populace, but I am seeing it grow stronger and stronger among the youth in the field of politics.
So of course I reminded her that all politics are local, which I have found to be true over and over again, and that when students place too much of their focus on Washington they tend to lose sight of that. And if you focus on Washington the first thing you will find is that Washington refuses to have anything to do with your difference.
Secondly I expressed my frustration with the two party system as it stands. The majority of this country are moderate, both as far as the citizens are concerned and as far as the politicians are concerned. Unfortunately all we ever hear and see are the squeaky wheels. This is of course because all of the rational moderates out there believe there is no way their voice will count for anything if they try and use it. It is a classic case of a rather intelligent 4th grader forced into silence by the big bully who will toilet dunk him and steal his lunch money if he acts up; and also occasionally for no reason at all.
This is of course no one's fault but our own. Fear of acceptance, or fear of any kind for that matter should never stand in the way of the intelligent getting in their two cents. Still, this is what's happening. So the two party system dominates because their dumb brutes, controlled by sly puppet masters in the wings are the loudest, so they get the most support in terms of sheer numbers, which in turn means the most money.
The problem for the moderates is that by definition they are not the loudest, though they inherently will have more to say. And unfortunately for them they have yet to have the innovative ideas necessary to put themselves on the map. So the $600,000 question is: What will it take for rational individuals who aspire to do great things in politics, to come up with the funding to run a smart, innovative and successful campaign against say, an oil tycoon.
I do not believe this country has given itself so completely over to the NFL that an intelligent, middle of the road kind of guy or gal with a minimal budget and some bangin' ideas doesn't stand a chance. What we need is a whole lot more of a whole little.
