namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
The midterm elections are this week. I live in Ohio. Therefore, I have been bombarded with an incredible amount of political commericals in the past two or so months. I hate these commercials. I find them to be offensive and disheartening.
Offensive in that they're hurting America. The political system in the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world has been reduced to grown men(and women) trading insults with each other over the airwaves in the same way that eight year olds trade insults with each other on the playground. Only, it's infinitely worse than that because eight year olds aren't pretending to be doing something else while they're insulting each other.
Being in Ohio, the ads I've seen the most of have been those conerning the Mike DeWine/Sherrod Brown U.S. Senatorial race. I see a DeWine ad that consists of DeWine talking to us about social security and taxes and how's looking out for us, and then a two-second video of DeWine gathering his wife, children, grandchildren, siblings, their children, other family, dogs, goldifsh, and more in front of his very scenic house for a 'one big happy family' photo. 'I'm Mike DeWine and I approve this message'.
Then I see a Brown ad that consists of 'the more we get together the happier we'll be' being played over a photo of DeWine and GWB both looking mentally unstable while the voiceover reads DeWine the riot act: "Mike DeWine did this, Mike DeWine voted against/for this, Mike DeWine supported this issue and/or person, Mike DeWine can't be trusted, Mike DeWine should be fed to a firing squad, etc". Come to think of it, this might've been a 'paid-for-by-the Democratic Party' commerical rather than a Brown commercial, but if it was, let's not be naive and think Brown didn't know all about it.
Then I see another DeWine ad that consists of a few old ladies lamenting about how they 'just can't trust' Sherrod Brown, and acting all old-lady pissy and everything. "I'm Mike DeWine and I approve this message."
Then I see another Brown ad that consists of a voiceover covering all the horrible unforgivable things Mike DeWine has done, with doomsday music the background, followed by a sudden change to a voiceover telling us how Sherrod Brown is our guardian angel, living to protect us from all the evils that this big wide world may offer, with the music changing from 'doomsday' to 'the angelic theme of Sherrod Brown'. "I'm Sherrod Brown and I approve this message."
Then I see yet another DeWine ad that consists of the sister of a guy who was killed in Iraq telling us about how she has never met a man with more integrity or compassion than Mike DeWine and then, in my favorite part, she addresses Brown directly and tells him how 'we' have a senator who cares about us and tells the truth', and then, in an attempt at being clever, finishes with 'and his name is Mike DeWine'. "I'm Mike DeWine and I approve this message."
Then I see still another Brown ad that consists of U.S. Senator John Glenn supporting Brown, telling us about how Brown won't take a dime of health benefits from Congress until every Ohioan has coverage. "The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is responsible for the content of this advertisement."
And then I stick a needle in my eye to ease the pain.
And that's just one campaign. It's the same with the other Sentatorial campagins and Congressional campaigns. Even the lesser offices - i.e. State Treasurer's office, City Commissioner - have people vying for them as though they were running for President.
When I'm through watching these ads, the only think they've convinced me of is that both of these guys are just disingenious bullshit artists, and that you can't believe a word that comes out of either of their mouths. It has NOTHING to do with any of the things they talk about in their ads. It has NOTHING to do with bettering the country or the people living in it. It has EVERYTHING to do with massaging their own egos in pursuit of power and money. It has EVERYTHING to do with winning. Their job isn't to vote for this bill or that, to support this issue or that one; it's to win and to throw as much bullshit out there as is needed to do so.
I know I'm not telling you anything you didn't already know, but I just felt the need to vent. Because I feel like this system of bullshit politics is hurting America. There's nothing real about it. It's all a show, and ESPECIALLY during election season, the ads are all for show. Furthermore, the reality is that that show(the Ads) is aimed at a very slim percentage of the population - those who will vote but are as-of-now undecided, and I firmly believe that those people who are actually persuaded by 'one big happy family' photos, doomsday music/angel music dynamics, 'ordinary people' being used to spoonfeed us unconvincing rhetoric, heavy-voiced riot act voiceovers, or politicians' direct, overly contrived attempts at appearing wholesome and moral and pure, shouldn't even be allowed to vote.
I realize that's a very undemocratic thing to say, but I honestly believe that people who vote for ANY candidate for the wrong reasons are just as big a part of the problem as the politicians that bludgeon us with bullshit. I can't tell you how often I would read on the internet, during the last Presidential election, about people who decided who to vote for based on who they would rather have a drink with, and I can't tell you how disturbing that is.
And I can't tell you how disheartening it is know that no matter how bad the onslaught of ads has been this midterm election season, and no matter how relieved I am that it's over in a few days - and believe me, it was very bad and I am very relieved - that it was nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to what it's going to be like two years from now, when instead of Senatorial and Congressional campaigns, it's Hilary/Kerry/Obama vs McCain/Guliani/whoever.
Rant over.
Offensive in that they're hurting America. The political system in the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world has been reduced to grown men(and women) trading insults with each other over the airwaves in the same way that eight year olds trade insults with each other on the playground. Only, it's infinitely worse than that because eight year olds aren't pretending to be doing something else while they're insulting each other.
Being in Ohio, the ads I've seen the most of have been those conerning the Mike DeWine/Sherrod Brown U.S. Senatorial race. I see a DeWine ad that consists of DeWine talking to us about social security and taxes and how's looking out for us, and then a two-second video of DeWine gathering his wife, children, grandchildren, siblings, their children, other family, dogs, goldifsh, and more in front of his very scenic house for a 'one big happy family' photo. 'I'm Mike DeWine and I approve this message'.
Then I see a Brown ad that consists of 'the more we get together the happier we'll be' being played over a photo of DeWine and GWB both looking mentally unstable while the voiceover reads DeWine the riot act: "Mike DeWine did this, Mike DeWine voted against/for this, Mike DeWine supported this issue and/or person, Mike DeWine can't be trusted, Mike DeWine should be fed to a firing squad, etc". Come to think of it, this might've been a 'paid-for-by-the Democratic Party' commerical rather than a Brown commercial, but if it was, let's not be naive and think Brown didn't know all about it.
Then I see another DeWine ad that consists of a few old ladies lamenting about how they 'just can't trust' Sherrod Brown, and acting all old-lady pissy and everything. "I'm Mike DeWine and I approve this message."
Then I see another Brown ad that consists of a voiceover covering all the horrible unforgivable things Mike DeWine has done, with doomsday music the background, followed by a sudden change to a voiceover telling us how Sherrod Brown is our guardian angel, living to protect us from all the evils that this big wide world may offer, with the music changing from 'doomsday' to 'the angelic theme of Sherrod Brown'. "I'm Sherrod Brown and I approve this message."
Then I see yet another DeWine ad that consists of the sister of a guy who was killed in Iraq telling us about how she has never met a man with more integrity or compassion than Mike DeWine and then, in my favorite part, she addresses Brown directly and tells him how 'we' have a senator who cares about us and tells the truth', and then, in an attempt at being clever, finishes with 'and his name is Mike DeWine'. "I'm Mike DeWine and I approve this message."
Then I see still another Brown ad that consists of U.S. Senator John Glenn supporting Brown, telling us about how Brown won't take a dime of health benefits from Congress until every Ohioan has coverage. "The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is responsible for the content of this advertisement."
And then I stick a needle in my eye to ease the pain.
And that's just one campaign. It's the same with the other Sentatorial campagins and Congressional campaigns. Even the lesser offices - i.e. State Treasurer's office, City Commissioner - have people vying for them as though they were running for President.
When I'm through watching these ads, the only think they've convinced me of is that both of these guys are just disingenious bullshit artists, and that you can't believe a word that comes out of either of their mouths. It has NOTHING to do with any of the things they talk about in their ads. It has NOTHING to do with bettering the country or the people living in it. It has EVERYTHING to do with massaging their own egos in pursuit of power and money. It has EVERYTHING to do with winning. Their job isn't to vote for this bill or that, to support this issue or that one; it's to win and to throw as much bullshit out there as is needed to do so.
I know I'm not telling you anything you didn't already know, but I just felt the need to vent. Because I feel like this system of bullshit politics is hurting America. There's nothing real about it. It's all a show, and ESPECIALLY during election season, the ads are all for show. Furthermore, the reality is that that show(the Ads) is aimed at a very slim percentage of the population - those who will vote but are as-of-now undecided, and I firmly believe that those people who are actually persuaded by 'one big happy family' photos, doomsday music/angel music dynamics, 'ordinary people' being used to spoonfeed us unconvincing rhetoric, heavy-voiced riot act voiceovers, or politicians' direct, overly contrived attempts at appearing wholesome and moral and pure, shouldn't even be allowed to vote.
I realize that's a very undemocratic thing to say, but I honestly believe that people who vote for ANY candidate for the wrong reasons are just as big a part of the problem as the politicians that bludgeon us with bullshit. I can't tell you how often I would read on the internet, during the last Presidential election, about people who decided who to vote for based on who they would rather have a drink with, and I can't tell you how disturbing that is.
And I can't tell you how disheartening it is know that no matter how bad the onslaught of ads has been this midterm election season, and no matter how relieved I am that it's over in a few days - and believe me, it was very bad and I am very relieved - that it was nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to what it's going to be like two years from now, when instead of Senatorial and Congressional campaigns, it's Hilary/Kerry/Obama vs McCain/Guliani/whoever.
Rant over.