{"id":3154,"date":"2008-10-13T07:07:15","date_gmt":"2008-10-13T12:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=3154"},"modified":"2011-06-06T15:41:17","modified_gmt":"2011-06-06T19:41:17","slug":"from-the-back-row-at-the-circus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/campaign-08\/from-the-back-row-at-the-circus\/","title":{"rendered":"From the back row at the Circus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Friend and Reader,<\/p>\n

I’ve been hearing some pretty interesting stuff lately about the presidential campaigns from the other side of the pond. I have a good friend in Norway who summed up the sentiment of cynicism I think most Europeans feel at America’s political antics. He said to me, “It’s so hard being a Norwegian watching you [not very smart people] figure out who’s going to be your next president. In Norway, political commercials are illegal.”<\/p>\n

Added to that, I listened to some radio commentary about Britain viewing Palin as though she were from the TV show Northern Exposure<\/em> and Barack Obama as though he were from the show The West Wing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Immediately, Europeans have identified the fact that both candidates, from both parties, are projecting on the stage like a group of actors vying for popularity. And I see examples of people every day who are still willing to be fooled by it all.<\/p>\n

How weird that the Palin supporters I’ve talked to find nothing odd about her history in competitive sports and beauty pangeants leading up to a run in politics. How terrifying that in my local natural food store, I overheard the owner saying that according to Nostradamus, if Obama didn’t get elected, the world was going to end. And she was serious.<\/p>\n

I realized that for many, politics is a sort of blank canvas by which world-view and personal power trips can be colored. The candidates are doing it by characterizing what it is they imagine to be our greatest desires for this country. We are doing it by watching the candidates like vultures for any gaff, bad joke or bad hair day.<\/p>\n

Once I realized that I was looking forward to the VP debate with the same enthusiasm as I was during Wrestlemania 15 when Kane fought the Undertaker<\/a>, I got the chills. Sometimes it seems like the very fate of the country we live in is on the back burner. Ever since the first televised debate between Kennedy and Nixon, the politics of politics flew out the window and entertainment took center stage.<\/p>\n

Who are these people? Who are they behind the wall of chicanery they throw out there as a means of introduction? And most importantly, why do we the people demand that our politicians do this? It seems to me as though there are so many of us out there who are afraid to think, who have become disempowered, who have had their confidence crippled by years of second guessing themselves and blocking their thought-forms, that instead of trying to figure out what each politician stands for, they vote for who looks better. Is this why there has been so much talk about Palin’s different hair dos, her glasses and her photo sessions instead bringing up the important issues such as women’s rights, gay rights and the all important double standard that has been applied to this campaign?<\/div>\n

Case in point, in the local Woodstock newspaper a page was set aside for citizen commentary regarding the politicians at large. One citizen remarked that they were not going to vote for Obama because he didn’t have enough experience. When asked about Palin’s experience, this same citizen said that they felt confident in Palin’s abilities because “she has spunk”.<\/p>\n

In the same vein, I remember a few weeks ago, McCain supporters were whipped up to a froth at Obama’s remark that in times of pressure, blue collar workers turned to their religion. (Now, they’ve whipped themselves into a frightening mob<\/a>.) However, I have not heard a single remark made by ANYONE about Palin’s insinuation at the simple American citizen as “Joe six-pack”. She’s not talking about a washboard stomach, either.<\/p>\n

There have been so many double standards committed not just by us in what we get outraged about but also by what they say, that it makes my skin crawl thinking about it. I just want to walk away and go find my friend in Norway, start a family and establish a homestead there, because honestly, six months of midnight is a lot less depressing to me than what’s happening on the stage of our American fate.<\/p>\n

There are many out there who would rather stay sleeping through all of the changes that are touching down on our Earth today. We have been taught form day one that it much better to be stupid and popular, than intelligent and alone. Many an outcast, myself included, have scorned the choices those who prefer to be perceptive must make and the sacrifices we must give for who we are. But I am happy to say that there are many of us who prefer to keep vigil over that which is sacred to human nature. By exercising our rights we are making sure they never go dormant, for to feign apathy is to give up.<\/p>\n

Many more are joining our ranks every day. Our communities are growing stronger in the wake of these often times dubious realities.<\/p>\n

We must continue to stand firm and educate one another and support one another on our quest for growth. Everything in the nature just wants to grow. To all you out there who have cracked the shell of your seed casing: welcome!<\/p>\n

I wonder what kind of shenanigans we’re going to observe in the upcoming debate. At a rally yesterday, McCain vowed<\/a> “to ‘whip’ Democratic rival Barack Obama’s ‘you-know-what’ when the two presidential candidates meet Wednesday in their final televised debate.”\u0412\u00a0Got your blinders ready?<\/p>\n

Merry Met,<\/p>\n

Genevieve<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Friend and Reader, I’ve been hearing some pretty interesting stuff lately about the presidential campaigns from the other side of the pond. I have a good friend in Norway who summed up the sentiment of cynicism I think most Europeans feel at America’s political antics. He said to me, “It’s so hard being a … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[238,111],"tags":[189,36,297,52,117,364],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3154"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3154\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}