Hey guys!

I wanted to bring up for discussion a trend in society that I see often. This disturbs me greatly. I just can't hold it in any longer.

I don't know about the condition of Europe, but in the States this has nearly become the norm, so it would seem.

But first I will sum it up with a few quotes:

"The best argument against democracy is a 5-minute talk with the average voter."

"Any society that would sacrifice a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

"Under a democratic government, the citizens exercise the powers of sovereignty; and those powers will be first abused, and then afterwards lost, if they are committed to an unwieldy multitude."

This last one hit it on the head for me. It's from Edward Gibbon.

It seems to be saying that this sovereign power of the citizenry will turn law into a mere reflection of the mood of the day; that policy is based on the fad of the moment.

And truly it seems that this is what politics has become. It is the reflection of the whims of the moment. It seems to me that most of today's politics is centered on buzzwords.

Today, everybody's worried about "greenhouse gas emissions." What about tomorrow, when everyone's bored of "global warming?" What happens when they get tired of seeing that in the news?

Suddenly global warming won't be a problem. What fad will we move on to next?

To cite a few examples:

I am disturbed when I see the President's popularity polls. Have you noticed that his policies are losing popularity, but his personal approval rating is as high as ever? People don't like his politics, but they still love him anyway?

I am disturbed when a politician's smile and demeanor is of greater moment than his politics.

It is an insulting commentary on our nation that anyone would vote based on color, one way or the other.

People who refuse to vote for a black man are disgusting bigots, and people who vote for a black man because he's black (or a woman because she's a woman etc) are foolish and shallow.

Experience? Bah! Who needs experience as long as you look good and talk pretty? When did past performance indicate anything about future performance?

Now that I've said som things that may be considered anti-Obama, I will say some other things.

I also think that it's an insulting commentary on the general public on how they have behaved in politics these days.

When Bush won by a narrow margin, people cried "foul!" and drove around with bumper stickers reading, "Not MY President!"

But now that Obama won, I see bitter Republicans running around making waves about how Obama isn't a citizen blah blah blah. Come on, people! GROW UP! This isn't the 5th grade, arguing about who gets which sandbox toys!

The man is elected. LIVE WITH IT. You don't have to like it, but I think that he at LEAST deserves respect as the President of the United States of America. If WE don't respect him, why should any other nation respect him? And if nobody respects him, they certainly won't respect the United States itself! So we'll act like children because we feel slighted that someone disagrees with us?

Rush Limbaugh. The guy WANTS our President (that's right, OUR President) to FAIL?!?!? Ummm, if he fails, I think it logically follows that the nation fails by and large...

The man actually compared it to a FOOTBALL GAME!!! Are we so stupid, so shallow, so careless, so irresponsible that we think of our nation as a big football game???

HAS ENTERTAINMENT SO BECOME OUR GOD THAT WE UNCONSCOUSLY THINK OF POLITICS IN TERMS OF GAMES AND AMUSEMENT???

OUR SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE IS NOW THE LATEST HOLLYWOOD MOVIE. "Well, it happened on "x" show, so it must be right, right?"

OUR WISE MEN AND PHILOSOPHERS ARE OUR ACTORS AND MUSICIANS.

Now, I'm not saying that we should be bobbleheads and always agree with everything our great leader says (I don't agree with the majority of it myself), but honestly.

Lawsuits. It's the American way.

We have taken "personal liberty" so far. If someone looks at you wrong, it's a "hate crime."

It seems that these days, freedom means that if someone does something you don't like, you throw a fit about it.

Ok, I can understand the American Revolution of 1776. That has some legitimate cause.

But now we riot, strike, sue, you-name-it over anything that dares displease us. We really are a bunch of little kids in big bodies.

I am upset that, while killing babies is fine with us, that we stand aghast when our neigbor throws away his pop cans instead of recycling them. "You're destroying our environment!!!"

Well, if society keeps going on this track, I don't think we need to worry about the earth melting in another million years.

Have you noticed how many concience salves we have today? Who cares if you drink yourself to death, ruin your marriage, ignore your kids, and sit at home collecting wellfare when you could just as easily work? At least you use paper, not plastic. Oooooh, or maybe YOU use cloth! Wow.

Also, the recent Bernie Madoff case sheds some light on our judicial system.

You could have guaranteed that he would get the full 170 year sentence before it was pronounced on him. Why? Because it was an emotional case. What he did makes people angry.

Another concience salve, by the way. At least I'm not like him. People feel so righteous when they scoff at murderers and embezzlers.

Madoff was booed when he entered the courtroom, and the audience cheered when he recieved his sentence.

The whole case was like a spectator sport! You knew that Madoff would get the full sentence because people felt sorry for his victims and upset by the story.

Yes, I think that Madoff's actions were aweful. But you can see quite plainly that the court's ruling had more to do with the feeling of the audience than the letter of the law.

You didn't need to know the technicalities of the law to know that Madoff would get 170 years. Needless to say, it would have been a life term even if he'd only gotten the 12 years. He's an old guy. But it made people happy that he got 170 years; it made them feel just, and made them feel like they were upholding the rights of the underdog.

I can go murder a fat white guy, and I would get in trouble, sure.

But a LOT of a LOT of a LOT of murderers have gotten off with WAY less than Madoff is getting.

"Well, what's one life compared to millions of dollars?"

Is this really our attitude today?