I have a confession to make.
For a while, I was completely disinterested in politics. In fact, I’m willing to go as far as to say I was apolitical. Y’see, I prescribed to the George Carlin book of politics – that is to say that I really didn’t care one way or the other what happened, because it didn’t affect me. I don’t know whether or not I was misguided or blinded, but it was there and I wanted to stay as far away as I could. When I joined the Navy, I paid a little more attention because it affected me directly, but still felt that I couldn’t criticize anything because my job was quite literally on the line. However, with age comes wisdom, and with that wisdom was the knowledge that this kind of thinking was stupid, and I needed to make my voice heard…even if it IS minuscule in the grand scheme of things.
Now that I have those thoughts out of the way, I can proceed with the crux of this blog.
The primaries for the Governor of Alabama are going at full tilt, and I can honestly admit that these have been the most insanely painful political commercials I have ever seen. Think I’m lying? Go to YouTube and take a look at some of the commercials they’re airing down here.
Go on, I’ll wait.
Need help? Do a search for Bradley Byrne or Tim James. There are others, but I can’t remember them off the top of my head.
It’s quite depressing to see what this has come down to. I’m curious to find out when the word “liberal” became such a dirty word. It’s almost as if they’re saying that you can’t be a liberal in Alabama; otherwise, you’ll be shot on sight. It’s almost as bad as admitting you root for a team not named Alabama or Auburn. You get these funny looks like they’re trying to process the fact that someone is actually going to go against the grain and not root for the Crimson Tahd or the Aegles. But, I digress…
Bill Maher has set up something recently where he’s listing the eight stupidest states in America. As per Bill’s seeding, we have #1 Texas vs. #4 Alaska – only there because of Sarah Palin, and #2 Mississippi vs. #3 Florida in the brain dead conference. In the bone dead conference, we have #1 Arizona vs. #4 Kansas, and #2 Alabama vs. #3 Utah. For one of his statements on Alabama, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iKQ0ZrDMyg
I can wait.
Now, the sad thing about these are that these people are running for governor. Let me repeat that: THESE PEOPLE ARE RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR OF ALABAMA! Last I checked, whether or not we teach evolution will not help the state’s dwindling budget, nor will it help create new jobs in the state. On top of that, there is a prevailing rumor that Republican candidate Tim James allegedly told reporters for the University of Alabama newspaper that he would either reduce Nick Saban’s salary or fire him. Whether or not he said that is unimportant, because the governor can’t fire a head coach…it’s more like the other way around. That beings aid, he’s also saying that it was a smear campaign set up by Bradley Byrne, because you don’t want to insult the loyal Alabama voters, not mentioning the fact that not all of them can read.
That’s right, I said it; Alabama is one of the worst states in the country when it comes to reading, but Tim James wants to advocate making Alabama an English-only state. Tell you what, Timmy; you learn to speak it without overly dramatic pauses, then we’ll consider it.
Going back to my original focus, I have a severe problem with the state of politics in Alabama. Why? I’ll let my words from this thread speak for me:
Look; I’m not a liberal, but I have liberal tendencies. I’m not a conservative, but I have conservative tendencies. I’m a moderate, and I’m thrilled to be down the middle. But, you have to admit: those commercials make us all look stupid. And, I’m getting tired of defending this state because of its stupid politicians and the stupid populace that allows them to pander to the extremely lowest common denominator.
I meant every word of that, and it sickens me more and more when I think of it. As much as I hate to solely heap on the Republicans, I can’t attack the Democrats, because I see none of their ads down here. I’m quite sure that if they actually aired any, I’d attack them, too. Maybe there will be more info about it down here soon enough.
Contrary to popular belief, political diversity isn’t necessarily a bad thing.