Saturday, November 14, 2009

Grumble, grumble, grumble.

I just don't like politics, talking heads, or politicos. I don't like CNN, Fox, MSNBC, or whatever other political channels dominate the airwaves today. Politics for a long time has made me sick to my stomach because I often see a disregard for the well being of Americans when important decisions are compromised by some representative who feels pressured by their constituency back home.
I have my own values, informed by my experiences, my goals, and my views. I may share one or two of them with my neighbor here in the city or with a rural cotton farmer in Oklahoma. But they are my own values. Belonging neither to the Democrat, Republican, or any other party that espouses to represent what the people want.
When I vote for the President of the United States, I go to the polls (in a manner of speaking, yay vote by mail!) with the desire to select the person best suited for the job of representing me to the world. Someone who can spear head initiatives that will allow me to pursue to the best of my abilities "The American Dream". They may serve one or two terms but in the end they will be successful by the measure of whether or not they left America better than they found it.
The reason I write this is because on the internet there is no shortage of vitriol to read. Now I won't go into my feelings about him but one thing that is bugging me is a incident (if it can be called that) in Japan where Obama choose to bow to the Emperor of Japan. My personal feelings are that you can never show enough respect to others. Previously representatives of our government have chosen not to bow but rather offer a handshake but the way I see it is that when you go into someone's home you abide by their rules. An example of this is the shoe policy. Some people have you take off your shoes when you come into their homes. Others let you choose. It's not a horrible thing to show respect and follow the custom of the household. You are not demonstrating weakness by choosing to do so. But what bugs me the most is that this is even an issue. A waste of time. Look even i'm posting on it. Anyway... grumble, grumble, grumble. Politics, who needs them?

3 thoughts:

Trevor Holms Petersen said...

Wow, why aren't you a writer or something like that?

Clifford said...

Thanks for the compliment. Writing had been one of my goals when I was a kid but I can't say that I am much of a story teller. Ultimately this blog is a very good outlet for me to pursue writing without really any pressure associated with trying to produce a new work. Not to mention it keeps a record for future generations... two birds with one stone. Cha ching!

Sofia D. Hoiland said...

As an anthropology student, I have to say that abiding by cultural "rules" and traditions is so important to the respect and honor of their people. Too often, cultural sensitivities and understandings are overlooked and cause miscommunication. Ah, social pragmatics!