If there's one thing we've learned in the 2 weeks of what was the government shutdown, it's that America has become more divided then ever thanks to Media and Social Networking.
They've become "5 o'clock Charlie (M*A*S*H* reference) that without doubt they drop bombs that miss the mark thanks to partisan reporting. Yet we buy it as a truth and most re-post over and over again.
How gullible have many become? Extremely as way too many only read the Headline or the first paragraph to determine their belief.
I love the site dailycurrant.com, its political satire of another form. Recently they posted an article titled "House Republicans Schedule Obama Impeachment Hearings" to which I had to link to my Facebook page just to see who would bite. And many did and re-posted as well.
Others posted stories they swore to be true, yet were only abbreviated narrative from their favorite "Right or Left" website, only to be revised by others of the complete story.
Stop reading partisan websites as they only tell part of the story!
There is so much discourse and hate for either side of political thought that many discredit the idea of actually listening, respectfully listening to another thought that, well we end up with the 535 current incompetent, grandstanding, photo opt, leeches in Congress today.
Just think about it for a moment.
The best examples of my description come from the weekend of Oct 14-15, when a planned Immigration rally had Democrats run for to shake hands of possible future voters and the other being the Million Vet March the next day when a large group of Veterans planned a protest the barricading (the Right uses the cute "Barrycade" slogan) of War Memorials.
Yes, I was disgusted by Democrats for campaigning on the Immigration shoulders but I was even more disgusted by members of Congress using veterans to photo op for their personal political gain.
Some of those veterans were upset about it as well, as the reports of Veterans carrying barricades from the Memorials to the White House weren't Veterans but members of the Tea Party, who "hi-jacked" someone else's protest.
I have no problem with protests, it's part of American history and lore, however, unfortunately so is one's joining a protest for political gain as well.
Democrats, Republicans and the Tea Party all gained financially as well during the shutdown.
Media darling Ted Cruz (R-TX) campaign received close to $1 million in donations during shutdown and the DCCC reports a September haul of $8.4 million on pre-shutdown fear.
So was the shutdown more for political gain or true political stance?
Currently there are reports that the Tea Party is planning a new fundraising campaign on the betrayal of the Republican Party alone.
Some will blame the President, whether past, present or future and not look within their own party as these battles are becoming too predictable as well as too common, that the World is laughing at us.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) blames the House Republicans for the current deal because they gave him nothing viable to work with while House Republicans are calling the shutdown a victory, yet they won nothing.
Americans are calling for a third option and I say it's time for the Tea Party to get off the Republican teat and break away. But, just as they complain Americans are too dependent on Government money, they themselves are too dependent on Republican financial backing to stay in the game.
What should the American voter do?
For me the answer was simple.
Although I have always had the dreaded "D" on my voter registration card (thanks to parental influence of my youth and the fact you gotta have "D" or "R" to vote in PA primaries) I have never voted straight party ticket.
The beginning of 2013, I threw away that voter registration card and applied for a new one, this one with an "I" for Independent.
I refuse to give money to any candidate and I think it's wrong that taxpayers must pay for their primaries as well.
If the American voter wants to prove a point to our politicians, I suggest everyone should do the same. Re-register as either an Independent or No Party Affiliation, stop giving your money to their campaigns or PAC's, push for Congressional (and Supreme Court) term limits, write letters to Capitol Hill telling them to repeal the Constitutional Amendment that states that they get paid whether Government is funded or not, and by all means turn off the partisan media and listen, truthfully listen to the other side not in sound bites or abbreviation but as a whole.
I fear many will not do so, because we always need a villain to hate yet blind to the villain that stands before them.
So please stop being a “5 O’clock Charlie” and discontinue the meaningless misleading Social Media posts from partisan reports. Don’t we have enough mislead lemming voters?
That’s it, slap the tap on some Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale and a huge shout at to my friend (and sometimes political cohort) Laura on the release of her blog http://themilfsurvivalguide.com.
Cheers!
