Jager Bombs, Gray Hair and Politics

I had a mid-life crisis when I turned 21. I distinctly remember thinking amidst raucous calls for more alcohol and rounds of Jager bombs, “Well, its all downhill from here.” That may have been silly to think, but it is still there. I’m nearly 26 now and graying rapidly. Everyone I know has different reactions to this. Some people, despite seeing the now obvious long strands of evidence in my very dark hair, still have the gall to try and blow it off. I have a few male friends who insist that it is “hot” and to do nothing but embrace the early gray. That is just ridiculous. There are even a few people who insist that it is worry on part and will reverse once I “straighten things out”. For some reason I resent them saying that. My aunt went completely gray by the age of 30, so it is hereditary and therefore highly likely I got it from her. Great. Whatever the reason, it is driving me crazy to see the long strands of gray hair streaking my dark brown hair. I love the color of my hair and have no wish to dye it. Ugh. Now for my real point…

Speaking of getting older and growing up, I’ve been thinking about politics lately. Thanks to my friends at Twitter, it is impossible to ignore and fresh on my mind daily. About three years ago, I made a conscious decision to stop talking about politics with anyone, other than my significant other (at that time). I was so tired of listening to mostly uneducated people get angry and loud over things that were, for the most part, not within their control to begin with. Have you ever heard the phrase, “Worry is like a rocking chair. Gives you something to do but doesn’t get you anywhere.”? It’s a good one. Probably make a good lyric too, now that I think about it. Anyhow, it is applicable here, So much of what I hear when people talk politics is a bunch of complaining about things that will never change. Very little action happens in politic talk and I find the whole thing discouraging.

Another reason I stopped talking about it was because I realized that I have a limited capacity for watching and understanding the news. It is so full of double talk and tainted by opinions that I don’t trust anything they say anyway! I could be fascinated for hours listening to a person explain their thoughts to me on recent foreign policy changes or environmentalism, but sit me in front of a T.V., radio (god forbid!), or newspaper and my mind WILL wander. It isn’t a matter of if, just a matter of when.

Also, I don’t like either party in our 2-party system. I think they are both completely corrupted and filled with a bunch of arrogant people who talk just so that they hear themselves. Politicians will tell you whatever they think you want to hear. It is a 100% guarantee that nearly everything that comes out of their mouths is a lie. Whether it is a lie by omission, fancy wording and dodging, distraction from other issues, or just a flat out blatant lie, they are full of bull.

What is worse is that we (the general public) not only encourage it but beg for it, with our politically correct hounds foaming at the mouth and paying more attention to how expensive someone’s clothes are instead of what they actually plan to do with their time in office. Who do they owe money to? There is a question to ask. Where did they come from? What education do they have? What is their voting record? These are all valid and important questions. Whether or not they ordered an expensive meal in their hotel room is just ridiculous, distracting squabble. Between whispering campaigns, personal attacks, marital infidelity and fashion, we’ve seemed to have forgotten the point. These people are not rock stars or famous actors, folks. They are everyday people about to make some big decisions that will affect you, your children and their children. Pay attention to that.

Plus, I mean come ON, you’ve got to be kidding me with all this offended sensibilities crap. We forgive Michael Jackson because he won our hearts through his slamming pop music and vulnerable personality, but we condemn these politicians who cheat on their wives? This may sound very cynical, but the only difference between the politicians today and yesteryear are that they get caught now. You think our Founding Fathers were faithful? The probably had go-to squaws and their wives were grateful. This isn’t to say that I condone unfaithfulness in the least. If I had a man and he was unfaithful, he’d better pray to the gods that he doesn’t see me before he throws himself over the cliff. However, I just find the idea that it affects their ability to govern more than a little bit ridiculous. We already know they are all liars! Does this surprise anyone?

Finally, the heart of the reason I stopped discussing politics other than in private. I don’t know where I fit in, in the grand scheme of things. I don’t know enough to get vehemently behind one party and I also find myself on either side of the fence on any give topic. I have a few strong beliefs and they cross over the party lines. I am pro-choice and pro-death penalty. I say a woman chooses and it is stupid to try to say otherwise. Do I abhor women using it as some disgusting form of birth control? Absolutely. But I sure as hell don’t want to know that my baby girl is forced to have some rapist’s baby because the government ruled it out as homicide. As for criminals like murders and serial killers? With DNA evidence, I say you can’t kill ‘em fast enough for me. If you take someone else life, you forfeit yours. Simple.

As far as the environment is concerned, I think it’s a no-brainer. Shouldn’t even be a political issue, really. We need to clean our houses and rooms, we need to clean our world. Turning this into a political issue just turned into an issue about money. Do whatever you can, within reason, to insure the least amount of effect on our natural resources and preserve wildlife. Duh. I am so fucking sick of walking by polluted streams and garbage on the side of the road. It is much worse now than from my childhood days, by the way. I can remember clear streams running through my ‘burbs. Good luck finding that now. It makes me feel like grabbing the next person I see toss a Coke can out the window and rubbing their face in monkey poo saturated in gasoline. I blame people more for this than the government. You know how much worse all that accumulated litter is to our world than accidental oil spills?? Just because you were too lazy to get your fat McDonald’s eating ass up to throw it away?

Gun control? No one, and I mean no one, needs an AK-47 to make their point, but as long as the bad guys have guns, I damn well better have one too…and make it a shotgun. As a single woman, I will put one through an intruder’s eyes and be well pleased. “Stop being a criminal and this won’t happen to you”, I’d say to their dead body. Welfare? That is obviously not working. And I am tired of seeing people taking advantage of the system with my measly tax dollars. My monetary input to the government is nearly useless to them, but could make all the difference for me and I’d put it to better use.

I could go on in this vein but it’s all pretty much the same. Back and forth, back and forth. It’s exhausting and ultimately disheartening for me because I don’t ever see anything change. The situation never changes, the problems just rearrange. I will close by saying this. Obama is no miracle worker nor the second coming. People are acting like he’s going to fix every problem this country’s had since its conception. That is just silly. A politician is a politician is a ….well you know. I do think it is nice to see the ultimate result of what intelligent and hardworking people fought so hard for not that many years ago. Hopefully, that will stop more unfairness like reverse racism and finally propel us into a new era of less unwarranted resentment and the end of the “Gimmie Gimmie” mentality….but I doubt it very seriously.

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