Taking Sides

I was walking into the county building today when a lovely young lady asked me if she could sign me up to vote republican.  I kindly informed her that I was an independent, which she politely thanked me for my time and that was it.

Pretty much an unremarkable event in my life today.  But if I put it into perspective with the State of the Union address, then things change.  Now, as far as politics go, I do lean to the conservative side.  No doubt about that.

But why should I have to choose?  What is so beneficial from picking one side of the same coin?  Or the lesser of two evils, depending on which way you like better?  I shouldn't have to pick, and that's what pisses me off. 

I hate getting force fed garbage from both sides because that's what they think I want to hear.  I can think for myself, thank you.  And I sure as hell don't need your talking heads spoon feeding me information to get me riled up because I'm the voting base that will get someone re-elected.

Just mention that your might take something away, or give someone something, and people lose their damn mind.  Somehow we all turn into chicken little and start running around screaming at the sky.  It's especially bad when the news cycle is 24 hours a day.  (Lets not get into the fact that news outlets are for profit corporations that depend on ratings, not the truth.)

So what do I want.  Simple, I want to be able to elect someone who is willing to do the right thing.  Someone who is going to read the research, from reputable sources, and make decisions based on that.  Propose policies based on data that has been produced in a non partisan way.  Someone who can stand in front of me, have a conversation, and tell me I'm right or wrong, and clearly and coherently tell me why.

I want someone who can think.  Someone who's willing to change their views on a subject matter when the facts prove them wrong.  Someone who is willing to stand up in front of people and articulate why that change has happened.  Someone with a backbone, who isn't afraid to not get re-elected if comes down to it.

I'm fully aware that, right now, this is just a naive way of looking at our democracy.  I know that there is way to much money and power involved for me to make a difference.  But guess what, I'm still going to vote in the next election.  I'm going to read up on the candidates and I'm going to try to pick the best one.  Regardless of what party they are affiliated with.

And if we all did that together, then maybe, just maybe we could get things to change.