Politics...or 99 Problems

It's going to be a long long year, my friends. A long long year.

I'm not sure I can take too much of the whole political campaigning extravaganza that is about to explode. It's already a big ole mess, and what happens, I ask you, just what happens when the primaries are over and the real fighting begins? Because with all the mud that the republicans are slinging around out there about each other...you know, the infighting amongst supposed allies...I can only imagine that sort of &^*# storm we are in for in a few more months.

These are the things that bother me most about election season:

1. Everyone has such short lived memories. Right now, Reagan is a demi-god and did everything right, and everyone seems to have forgotten that when he was president, he had his nay-sayers and there were problems. I remember that...even though he was president when I was only in grade school. Yes, even a child can recognize that, so why can't grown-ups? I'm not knocking Mr. Reagan. I'm just saying, we are acting like it was a golden era when Mr. Reagan ruled the free world.

Hello...go out and watch Midnight in Paris. Woody Allen, you are a genius.

2. Everyone is blaming our current president for decades of small fires, little (or sometimes big) problems, if you will, that have only culminated in the current conflagration that is our economy and our foreign relationships. Let us keep a few things in mind, shall we? When things are going well, we tend to act as though the president, whomever that may be, has no power and really is only a figure head for the country. And then when things go south, we want to blame him for every last problem that we have ever faced. In our entire history. We forget that, in truth, his powers are limited, and, um, well, there is this whole thing we call CONGRESS...or the legislative branch...that he has to work with. And what in the world do they do, anyway? Work part time and get nothing done, and bicker bicker bicker while the president works around the clock. So can we at least be honest with ourselves? Please??? Stop blaming the president for every little problem out there.

And maybe try to understand the separation of powers and what the president does and does not have control over. Start with the Constitution...hello!

3. I'm tired of candidates trying to distance themselves from what they perceive as a weakness. Own your history people.

Newt - you cheated on your wives. And on top of that, you went guns blazing after President Clinton, probably while you were doing your cheating. How dare you try to take the "moral" high road? You have absolutely zero ground to stand on here. I'm dead serious, too. You need to own up to the fact that you were party to stringing up Mr. Clinton when you were doing the same thing. It's worse to hear you act as if it isn't the public's business. Maybe it isn't...maybe it is. Either way, you can't act like this is so unfair when you did the SAME thing to someone else. Please give me a break!

Mitt - you are rich. Own it. You don't have to apologize for it. You don't have to make excuses or act as if it is something to be embarrassed about. You work hard. You are just blessed/lucky to have been born into a wealthy family. You haven't broken the law by being rich. AND...it isn't as if you mooched off of a trust fund your entire life, loafed around and acted like a spoiled prince. I am begging you to stop acting like you have something to hide. It makes everyone think you have something to hide.

4. Let's be honest about ourselves. It isn't the government's job to stick its nose into every aspect of our lives and fix every problem we've had. I've been jobless for a year and a half now. I'm not blaming it all on politicians. And I'm not not blaming it on politicians. It is a crap economy and that does have something to do with Washington. But it also has a lot to do with me. It has a lot to do with decisions Americans made - to live on credit for years and years without ever thinking that they'd have to pay up for it. And I'm not just talking about the government here. People were and are living beyond their means, just as the government is.

But my joblessness is my problem, and no amount of blaming outside forces is going to fix it. I have to find work and that is that.

In other words - your life is yours and no president is some magical panacea. If Mitt or Newt become president, we won't suddenly wake up living in luxury. Things won't change over night. You'll still have your 99 problems, son.