And they’re off!
Primary elections are in full swing with most states already having held elections. Now more than ever people of influence are casting their opinions concerning who should lead our country. Thus I have a title under my name, see it up there, so why not cast my vote for the best candidate?
My vote will be tricky, it all depends on who wins the primaries. If the race comes down to Obama vs. McCain, I’m voting Obama. If it comes down to Clinton vs. McCain, I’m moving to Canada.
What would cause me to flee the land of my birth and country that I love so much? Politicians.
This archived article was written by: Mike Overson
Primary elections are in full swing with most states already having held elections. Now more than ever people of influence are casting their opinions concerning who should lead our country. Thus I have a title under my name, see it up there, so why not cast my vote for the best candidate?
My vote will be tricky, it all depends on who wins the primaries. If the race comes down to Obama vs. McCain, I’m voting Obama. If it comes down to Clinton vs. McCain, I’m moving to Canada.
What would cause me to flee the land of my birth and country that I love so much? Politicians.
Politics left behind the glory days of, “Hey this is who I am and what I stand for.” Now it seems to be “Hey, I’m a puppet, but the world doesn’t know it yet.” I am a registered republican and proud of it. When I am older and have wealth beyond my years, of course I don’t want to pay taxes. Who would?
In 2004, I used my recently acquired right to vote. I voted for George Bush, not because he was the smartest of the candidates, rather I thought that whoever was controlling him was doing a good job.
Now more than ever our vote (you, me, that guy standing over there) will determine how this world will be shaped for our posterity and theirs to come. The U.S. dollar is down almost two to one against the Euro. What happened to the day when the dollar was king? Russian crime syndicates, Columbian drug lords and almost every nation on this planet once revered the dollar. Now even the shadiest characters are straying away from it. Even Jay-Z has a music video in which he flaunted not stacks of Benjamins but Euros.
The housing market in this country is a joke. People who were barely scraping by bought houses at over-inflated rates. Bankruptcy, which was unheard of a few decades ago, is now commonplace conversation. Homes are abandoned across our great country, many are being pillaged for simple things like pipe, door handles and fixtures.
CEO’s from lending institutions are questioned as to why they are being paid multi-million dollar salaries when the country is facing a financial crisis similar to the savings and loans fiasco. At least those top execs aren’t being paid in Euros. Didn’t we learn from Enron? Do we remember Enron?
The war on terror must end. This war has become my generation’s Vietnam. Public support for the war was moderate at best but now support switched to disdain. Most Iraqi people do not want us to police their country, and we should not. Problems on our own soil should take precedence over leading another country by the hand into democracy.
Afghanistan, yes, we still have troops on the ground there, has become more of a breeding ground for insurgents than ever before. Before this war started, opium production was centralized in Southern Asia. Thanks to the Taliban protecting this cash crop, the majority of opium now comes from Afghanistan. America is fueling more than one war by being in this country.
If America was invaded I’m sure that civilians would do whatever it took to get foreign invaders out of our country. The instinct to protect family as well as ones self is universal.
With this in mind it is no surprise to me that the death toll of American soldiers raises everyday. The killing of young men and women from our country as well as our allies is senseless.
Our country incarcerates the most people in the world. The majority of those imprisoned are there because of mandatory minimum sentences. Prisons are over crowded and inmates are being released. Those released are often violent offenders. Cause for these minimum sentences is the over-zealous attitude towards keeping drug offenders off the streets. The war on drugs must be stopped. Nothing productive is coming out of forcing thousands of Americans to rot behind bars.
This war is costing taxpayers billions; money that could be better spent on education, health care or at the very least prevention programs. Prison doesn’t rehabilitate people, it is a breeding ground for gang recruitment. MS 13 started to gain momentum in prison. For those of you who don’t know, MS 13 is the fastest growing gang in the country. It has spread to other countries and now commands the largest membership of any gang in the country.
Where are our leaders to step in and curb this madness? The problem with this election isn’t who is capable of taking care of the world. We shouldn’t care so much about the world’s problems. We have our own problems to take care of. The problem is this, our country more than ever needs to focus on its own people. Spend the time to alleviate afore mentioned problems.
How will the next president bring the dollar to where it once stood? How can the housing crisis be fixed? Who will bring our troops home where they belong? Who will make it so our people don’t spend their lives in prison for trying to obtain the American dream?
It doesn’t matter if you are Black, a woman or a Vietnam POW. What you stand for should be the deciding factor in this race and sadly too many of us have forgotten that. As far as I’m concerned, apathy will once again rear its ugly head in this election. If you can’t be bothered to get out there and vote, then don’t bother to complain the next time an elected official makes a mistake.
