Politics and Stuff

Theres been quite a few political threads and blogs going around lately, and while I tend to quietly read them and keep most of my thoughts to myself it can be difficult at times to stay silent.  For the most part everyone here who participates in the discussions are polite and non-inflamitory in their views and expressions.  Thats part of what makes this community so great.  Theres well over 4000 people in 2o2p (maybe 5k now, Im not really counting) and everyone has a unique view of world events.  After all, the old saying goes - "Opinions are like a**holes, everyones got one."  So in light of that and seeing that Doddi looks to be doing something of a political nature for the site (though as of this writing I have no clue as to what he has up his sleeve.) Id like to say a couple of things...

Being the President of the United States of America is THE WORST JOB EVER!!!!  It doesnt really matter what side of the isle your on a large percentage of the population will hate virtually any desicion you make.  Its inevitable.  We are trained at this point to distrust anything that those in an authoritive capacity attempt to do.  We are inundated with it.  News isnt a reporting of the facts anymore, its a few facts mixed in with a huge amount of opinion.  Im not talking about the op-ed pages here.  Its in virtually any news story we read/see.  And worse yet for our younger generation coming up (and even many of us now)  we dont watch "standard" news programs anymore.  Most of us get what little news we see from places like The Daily Show, Bill OReilly, SNL, Jay Leno, MTV, Chris Matthews ect. ect. ect.  These outlets arent really driven by truth and public intrest.  Oh sure they say they are.  They probably even think they are.  But truth be told they are driven by the same things that drive most humans (wether we admit it to ourselves or not) money and/or power.  So if a particular news item is able to be turned into something funny or inflamitory then it doesnt really matter if the news item is benign or not, lets poke at it. 

Most comedians and entertainment types ply their trade on pointing out every flaw and mis-step made by any given president.  I dont really blame them.  Its funny sometimes.  It can even be beneficial.  No president should go unchecked.  But distrusting everything a president does is no better than walking lock-step in stride with all his decisions either.  All we heard about Bill Clinton is what a womanizer he was.  All we hear about George Bush is how stupid he is.  Is there some truth in those generalizations? Probably.  Is that the only information we should use to evalute our leaders? Probably not.    Keeping in mind that we should hold our highest elected leaders to the highest standards, we still must reconcile ourselves to the fact that in the end they are only human, they are faced with more difficult decisions an a daily basis than many of us will ever face, and they have the scrutiny of the entire world looking over their shoulder while they do it.  I dont know about you but I hate when someones standing next to me at work while Im trying to complete a task.  I dont mean to say that a president shouldnt be held accountable for his actions.  Far from it.  But its a tremendously difficult task and it irritatates me to know end when I see people putting together websites, and blogs, and stand-up routines, and op-ed pieces that scream from the top of their lungs every possible error that theyve percieved of a president.  Particularly since most of those are done in a vacuum. Pulling out stats and quotes out of context and after months or years of time and circumstances changing the world we live in is outrageous.  Why is it whenever I see a post or blog or website or a commentary on TV theres always a lot of finger pointing and ridiculling but never any real viable alternatives given.  It just seems like people would rather bitch then give any meaningful thought to a given situation.

I guess what Im trying to say is this.  I really appreciate the discussions we have within the community.  Like I said before, 99% of the time they are done with thoughtfulness and respect.  Maybe we should try and have a little more respect for those in higher office when we talk about them.  Even if you didnt vote for a particular President (you did vote, right?) he (she, maybe one day) is still the President, and that office should command some respect.  If not because you agree with the policy, but because of the enormous burden it is just to sit behind that desk.