Democracy?

Democracy is hard work.

It doesn’t seem like it should be, but it appears to be so. All we have to do is sit down and fill out a bunch of multiple choice questions once a year. Like a coloring book we try to stay within the lines lest we smear our ballot and come up with smudged chads in need of recount. It’s a lot like the SAT and just as important when life, and the government, begins to bite you in the ass. Still, a large proportion of the population can’t be bothered. It is difficult to stay within the lines.

They do bitch, though.

Someone once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” It’s debatable that it was Einstein, but you don’t have to be Einstein to agree with the thought. It’s evident in how Americans control their democracy.

Control is what democracy is about. The citizenry is in control. Not the hated politicians and, what appears to be a fervent hate for American government, and hence America herself. Hating the government is institutionalized and reaching incredibly dangerous degrees of rage.

The next time your anger at the government rears its ugly head, walk into the bathroom, turn on the light so you can see, and take a good look in the mirror at your ugly head. You are staring into the eyes of the government — by the people, for the people. You are it. You control government in a democracy. I hope the angriest, and most honest, out there will take one look and say, “Fuck that guy.” You are the people who get it.

According to Politifact, “Congress has lower numbers than hemorrhoids, Nickelback, traffic jams, cockroaches, root canals, colonoscopies, herpes.” Nickelback lovers reading this would say that Politifact is George Soros sponsored left-wing fake news until they read the comparisons and suddenly agree with the fake news. They love veterans, too, especially the ones that weren’t captured.

Congress has sucked for years, and the same people have been running it for years. Why do these failures keep getting elected? Democracy isn’t that hard. We’re insane. Vote for new leadership.

Every election cycle we “balance” the congress and the executive branch. The last time we balanced we wound up with total gridlock and the country’s politics was being controlled by two senators. Yeah, that’s now.

Maybe we ought to decide to let one party or the other run the country, unfettered in their ideals, for a while. Unbalance the country and let it run wild on either the right or the left. One side has to be the correct ideology. We fight like dogs and cats, let the cats lie down with the dogs and live with the consequences.

When an ideology fails we should quit trying it. In 2004 after Bush whipped John Kerry I thought that it would be the end of the Republicans. I knew in my heart that Bush would fail. When he accomplished it with the Great Recession in his seventh! year of governing one would think the era of less regulation on gigantic institutions and corporations that caused the recession would end. Nope.

We tried the Democrats. Gave them full power for two years. Got subsidized health care. Then we rebalanced. Got nothing. We tried the Republicans again. They hated subsidized healthcare and were going to “repeal and replace.” Couldn’t even repeal it, let alone come up with an idea to replace it. Not one.

The only way forward is to vote clear-headed and with conviction. Don’t succumb to political action committees ramming TV bullshit into your mind with their billions in ads. Listen to the people who are running. Find their websites. Read their dry-ass policy positions. Know what they are going to attempt to do for you. Vote in the primaries to rid yourself of grandstanders and name brand failures.

Fuck name recognition. It’s better if you don’t know their names. If you know their name, it means they’ve been around too long already. They’re part of the problem. Too many great people are drowned out by money, but the Internet can outrun money. Seek the facts and drop the propaganda. The only way to term limit these assholes is to vote them out.

America has millions of qualified people to step up and legislate. The fuck-ups we keep electing over and over have gotten America into this mess. Don’t be so fed up that you think that no matter who you vote for it’s fruitless and nothing will change. That thinking is a self-perpetuating, déjà vu, drop-out mindset that will spell ruin for democracy and all it can give you. It’s a rejection of the very country so many profess love for every day. You can control government if you participate.

Stop bitching. Do the hard work. Control your government. Don’t continue the insanity.

Government isn’t going away. It’s staring you in the mirror.