Elephants are too loud, and donkeys kick too hard.

Caution: This is a vent about politics... so either read it and get over it, or don't read it at all... :o)

I'm getting sick of it.
I'm not going to spill my personal politics, just my observations.

I can't stand that we let elections turn the otherwise most dignified people in the country into little children fighting over all the new toys they might get in November. Posting facebook "statuses" (stati) that exclaim your views, and shove it in the other party's face is arrogant and rude. I don't care if you're democrat, republican, or undecided... it's flat out offensive. The election is NOT a college football game, where fans can be as loud and obnoxious as they want about how much better their team is, just to have a game decide for them in four quarters and 3 hours. Elections like this one decide who the leader of the free world will be, who will get the nukes, who will decide what our lives will look like for atleast the next four years, if not eight. So, quit all the whining and debating, trying to change other people's minds. In the end, you're either yelling at people who are deaf to you (the other party), or at people who will then run the other way (the undecided). Guess what!?!?! He who yells louder doesn't WIN!
All that matters is what you personally think, and that should be kept to yourself. It's okay if you want to label yourself as Red or Blue. You're entitled to your own opinion. But there's a REASON why there are PRIVATE voting booths. There's a reason why there's anonymity with the votes themselves. Your opinion is NO ONE ELSE'S BUSINESS, when it comes to voting. You know why??? Because they are entitled to their own opinion, too. So, posting little comments that bring the other party down, or try to prove a point for your own party is just petty and stupid in my eyes. Doing all of that just makes the fight for the office that much more dirty.
Toward the end of these races, the debates end up on personal levels for the candidates- trying to make each other look bad in order to win votes. It's even more frustrating to me when party members, including some friends of mine, end up debating the same personal stuff, in lieu of the issues at hand: the war, gas prices, healthcare and education. We let all of that important stuff slide onto the backburners while we wail on each other about beliefs and morals and things that won't change on a personal level. Who cares if Obama doesn't wear a flag pin? Who gives a crap how old McCain is? All that really matters is what they are going to do with the four or eight years they are given to rule the country. And those little things we fight about don't mean anything for the future.
So, in all, please don't go debating anything until you've educated yourself on the candidates, their respective views on the issues, their plans to change the country, and their respective political histories. There's a LOT out there to be researched, and not just what CNN or FOX tells us to believe. Look it up for yourself. Make your own decision. Don't let the media rule what you think, just because they are right there in front of you. Figure out what YOU think about the IMPORTANT issues at hand, stuff that will change the future, and make your decision. Please don't base it on your morals or on what the candidates say theirs are. (FYI, I just found out last night through some research that McCain has had a few affairs in his past, one of which became his present wife... and Obama has some interesting skeletons in his closet, too). They're probably lying most of the time, because the only thing they want from us is our vote.
All they really need is for us to check their name on our ballot in order to get what they want. And usually, politicians who make it big are big fat liars. It's just a fact. And that's what's so funny to me! They let the media play little petty games with their personal lives in order to win our votes, most of which usually result from one or two media headlines, instead of any kind of research on the issues at hand. How sad is that? We're just little pawns in the big scheme of things. Unless we get past all the BS in the speeches, articles, and slogans, we'll never make wise decisions as a country. We are given a unique opportunity in this day and age. Never before has a country been so affluent in opportunities for further knowledge (internet, books, newspapers, historical records), but we let the media spoon feed us everything we THINK we need to know. And that same country has the chance to take whatever knowledge we come up with and CHOOSE for ourselves the leader we want. That's an amazing choice to have. Let's take advantage of it.
Just vote, and make the most of the opportunity. And meanwhile, don't be a two year old about it.