I never liked politics as I kid. I thought the system was all corrupt, that politicians were all crybabies that cared only about their wallets and political ideas. Then again, I was a very angsty, punk-rock loving child in middle school and high school, who really only cared about himself. Growing out of my whine-about-everything phase, I leaned out of politics altogether to because I was lazy. I was bored of seeing people argue. The presidency never mattered, it was just a system I couldn't control. This election had me disinterested like everything else in the beginning. My family is fairly Democrat. I'm more diluted than they are. I lean toward the left, but I try to see the logic on both sides. My girlfriend is a Republican and we're both middle class. I'll get to her later.
In the end, everyone wants to make America better, right? It's just some people take it to the extreme and that's where problems happen.
I didn't think our current President would make it at all. He had no perception of statical data or logic, he made broad claims, he has a slew of lawsuits against him, failed businesses, etc.
My main reason for not liking him (and to this very day) is his complete and total lack of experience. I'm currently studying for a job in healthcare, and one thing they drill into us is to be well-educated and experienced at what you do. Otherwise, you will end up hurting your patient (therefore breaking the Hippocratic Oath, hurting your insurance, hurting the facility's reputation, so on and so on). I wouldn't ask my dentist to be a lawyer. I wouldn't ask my architect to be a surgeon. I wouldn't ask a magician to drive a crane. Therefore, why would I want a psuedo-successful, more-than-slightly crooked business man to run my country? It just wasn't logical. My girlfriend would say "Of course he's stupid- but he hires smart people for their jobs." I was still uneasy.
He would act out in debates, he was rude, uncompromising. He made up facts and denied real statistics just as quickly. He sub-tweeted more than a fourteen year old girl after a breakup. He went out of unwritten laws of our election, he reminds me of Joseph McCarthy. The problem is, McCarthy got kicked off TV. Our president is still there. My girlfriend liked him because he was transparent. "At least I know he's an asshole and not lying about it." My problem was, that he was an asshole and proudly not lying about it.
If he was a Republican, I would have voted Democrat. If he was Democrat, I would have voted Republican. The content of his character was disturbing, narcissistic, dysfunctional. It wasn't a matter of left and right, it was a matter of right and wrong.
One thing led to another, political issues and the racism/sexism behind it became more transparent. More riots. More protests. He got elected. I wasn't happy, I was scared. I got over it. But I'm always uneasy. Next story, the Russians hacked the election. And he denied it, then accepted it, denied it again, accepted. And we are just, watching? In a game of Monopoly, if someone wins but cheats? They lose. If someone helps them cheat, they still lose. More and more of his Cabinet picks are, unlike my girlfriend's opinion, completely unqualified. Our Secretary of Education was so unqualified I even wrote my congressman to consider rescinding his vote, something I have never done. I'm not a political person. But I worry. I'm reading the news everyday now -- ALL the news, not just articles that support my opinion of him. It's only getting scarier. The more I know, the worse I feel. I don't share this on Facebook, I don't show my solidarity to anyone. I live my life, you live yours, we respect each other even if we don't necessarily agree. That's democracy.
I'm trying to work harder and focus on myself so I can do good in this world. But I'm still uneasy.
I feel like my government is an ellipsis...
~ David Cartolano