What’s the Difference?

I don’t like Obama. I’ve said so on many occasions. However, I don’t feel the need to insult the guy on a daily basis.

Why?

Plenty of bloggers are doing it, both on the right and the left. I’m not surprised by the criticism on the left, because it sometimes seems like Obama is doing everything he can to abandon every single campaign promise he made. What surprises me is the criticism from the right, libertarians and anarchists excluded (since those guys will complain about a government official even showing up to work).

Imagine you are a Republican. I have never met one (probably because I’ve been court-ordered to remain 500 yards away from anyone who earns more than 200k, or white people who earn less than 30k, or anyone who is enlisted or related to someone in the armed forces), but I get a decent impression of what they believe based on the people they elect.

As far as I can tell, Obama is a Republican.

Obama runs deficit budgets, including obscene military expenditures to kill brown people who aren’t keen on Jesus (or at least not enough to call him a God, rather than just a prophet).

Obama opposes gay marriage, though luckily a Reagan appointed California judge disagreed (I feel dirty just thinking about Reagan doing something right…).

Obama signed do-nothing healthcare and investment/banking reforms which allow abusive practices to continue.

Obama has verbally said he would stop raids on legal California cannabis cultivation, but apparently the Feds didn’t get the memo and have busted dozens (barely making a dent, but slyly justifying their budget).

Obama has done nothing but token gestures regarding the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which I wouldn’t care about if it weren’t for the fact that the military is about the only “job” most young men can get these days.

Obama has cut spending for NASA and several other important programs aimed at promoting science, education, and technology.

Obama has done nothing to increase “transparency,” unless you count the fact that more and more people are able to see through his bullshit at this point.

Obama sat idly by as the largest oil spill in US history put thousands of fishermen out of work (I hear he was trying to finish a compelling book he just couldn’t put down, “The Pet Goat”).

Perhaps most damning: taxes have gone up for people in the middle class, while the wealthy continue to bleed the nation dry from off-shore tax havens.

So I have to ask: are Republicans just acting infantile because they lost, or are they actually paying attention to what’s going on? For people who claim to hate homosexuals, they sure have their heads jammed way, way up their asses.

But I digress. This isn’t about bashing Obama, or even Republicans. Why? Because focusing on the shortcomings of others is not productive. Obama is not listening to criticism (another Republican trait), so we can’t expect him to change. And what’s worse, people get carried away when it comes to criticism.

Obama is not Bush with a tan. It’s not like we could have elected John Boehner, announced that we have the world’s “First Orange President,” and things would be exactly the same. Our situation would be worse, because while Obama is walking us towards failure, Republicans sprint there.

I think the most important question isn’t whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House (or controlling the Legislature), but rather: where has our choice gone? What we’re witnessing is the political poverty of a duopoly which doesn’t spend most of its energy competing against each other, but instead cooperates in stifling all outside opinions.

I am not Libertarian. I find Libertarians to be little more than druggies, johns and gun nuts who want their vices to become, or remain, legal. I can respect that. So why are Libertarians shouldered out of debates and elections across the country? Why is there an endless series of hoops to jump through just to get on the ballot? We all know why, but I guess what I’m asking is… why do we put up with it?

Democracy is about choice, and when the choice is being blatantly controlled by the very people we are forced to “choose” between, I think the only course of action is to refuse to vote for the people responsible. It is pointless to blame Republicans or Democrats more than the other, and pretend a vote for one is a vote against the “worse” one.

Insulting Obama day after day is not bringing new blood to the arena, it is merely politics as usual. Every printed derision is a wasted opportunity which only serves Republican interests. Why? Republicans make it their job to deride Democrats. That is the how Republicans get elected: people think they’re voting “not Democrat.” In reality, they’re essentially the same.

I have never met a Republican, only people who vote Republican because they don’t know any better, nor do they have a better option. At this point, being a “Libertarian” means you’re too embarrassed to publicly admit you vote for Republicans. Why vote for people you don’t even really support? Simply for the sake of saying you voted?

Americans need to wake up and stop voting for politicians who have been bought by the same corporate interests, and who merely advertise themselves differently. It’s pretty much all the same shitty product. It’s like being given the choice between Coke and Diet Coke. Which do you want: diabetes in a year or kidney failure in a decade?

And if you think you’re ordering tea, don’t be shocked when you get Coke.