I worry sometimes about our future. Yeah, I know; like that makes me particularly unique. No, I'm not one of those "the world's going to hell in a handbasket" doomsayers, but I wonder at times about the direction we as a society are heading. The signs are not promising, and I'm not a pessimist by nature.
What got me thinking about this was the looming Presidential campaign. Of course, any national campaign is Evil Incarnate vs. He Who Will Save Us From Ourselves. The first Presidential campaign that I remember was in 1968- and Nixon vs. Humphrey was the same play with different actors. That in itself is hardly newsworthy.
In this day and age, with 500 cable news channels, the Internet, magazines, and newpapers, the news cycle is so much more compressed than ever before. A rumor in the morning can be an unsourced story by 10, a fact by lunch, and back to being a rumor by teatime- without the facts behind the story having changed at all.
We have entered a time when elections are won and lost on sound bites- those five-second interludes in which candidates dispense the wisdom and brilliance of their program to the Mongol hordes. It's a hell of a way to run a campaign but given the nature of the news cycle and what it takes to feed the beast, I suppose it's about as much as we can hope for.
This election is too important to be waged by sound bites, hate sites, unfounded rumor, and innuendo. Somehow, we need to find it within ourselves to have a national debate- ON THE ISSUES. Now, I will admit that I'm as guilty as anyone else of contributing to this atmosphere. I do my best to curb my urges, but I'm a fallible human being, and sometimes I fall (well) short.
It should come as a shock to no one that I am rabidly anti-Bush. I do not hate Bush personally, because I don't actually know the man. If I am to actually hate someone, I like to be able to at least get to know them first. What I DO hate is the way George W. Bush and the Right-Wing puppeteers who pull the strings of his Administration have turned this country into their personal playground.
Here's where I break with most of my compatriots, though. IF we could have a LEGITIMATE debate ON THE ISSUES, and the American electorate still chooses George W. Bush in November, I could live with that. No, I wouldn't be happy, but if I knew that it was an informed decision based on the issues facing our country, I would accept the results and become a member of the Loyal Opposition.
Back on the solid footing of Planet Earth, however, I know that nothing like this is going to happen. That is why I fear for the future of our country. In the end, we will continue to be governed by those who most effectively pander to our collective ignorance, fear, and paranoia- and that is no way to run a country. It is, however, an American fact of life. Welcome to George W. Bush's Amerika.
