I don't even LIKE going to parties.

I really don't like talking about politics. Really, I don't. Just like I don't like talking about the weather, and just like I don't like talking about religion with my non-religious friends. So I very rarely talk about politics because it seems that I surround myself with people whose views are the exact opposite of mine. When this happens, it's usually sheer numbers of liberal views against my very conservative ones and I just say "Whatever" so that we can all shut up and get back to being agreeable. The few conservative individuals I've spoken to in some capacity revile me just as much as strangers who don't share my views do. Which is kind of funny because we more than often have the exact same views on ninety-four percent of the issues.

I think that has something to do with the fact that I refuse to say "I'm a Republican". I tried that a few years ago, only to find out that there were just as many corrupt politicians in one party as in the other. Now (since I've been able to Google political parties and lay my eyes on an actual voter's card), I don't identify with either "major" party. If anything, I consider myself a Libertarian. A very conservative one, but a Libertarian nonetheless. And I don't necessarily agree with everything going on in the party, but I don't feel attacked when I don't readily agree with absolutely everyone-omg-isn't-it-great-we-have-this-party-guys? And I don't have to agree with everything going on in the party. I guess you'd say that I'm an Independent because I disdain all parties.

Everywhere I look, I see politics. I hear about politics. I turn on the news and there's coverage on Haiti (which is an absolute tragedy, please don't misunderstand) with both parties mudslinging. Grown men and women cat-fighting and sniping at each other and ignoring the fact that people are dead.

How much money do these politicians get paid, anyway? Enough to put up mistresses in some condo down in Florida, and more, I'd wager. Why not have every politician in Washington donate fifteen-hundred dollars of their salary this month to a Haiti relief fund? Oh... wait... they have to fund their self-righteousness with hybrid cars and siphon money into their off-shore accounts. I forgot. Silly me.

I don't put much stock in government aid. I don't think it's the government's job to provide aid to every Joe Somebody who puts their cap out. I believe in private charity, as it seems that the private sector and private charities are much more adept at the distribution of funds and goods. It also seems to be that non-profit private charities have more money than the government, and they're not funded by tax-payer dollars.

This is in contrast to the government, who get their money from the money that tax-payers pay. Funny, isn't it? Maybe they should do a bake-sale to raise money for the multi-trillion dollar deficit? Or a car-wash or something, I don't know. I just know that every time a "normal" group of People Who Need Money get together, they invariably do a bake-sale or a car-wash. Or they get actual jobs that pay. But that'd just be silly.

As it is, Washington itself is kind of like those clubs in high school who were constantly fundraising because they had an inadequate treasurer and president and they weren't upholding the club's constitution.
...Wait a minute...

I was actually a member of one of those clubs my junior year. I was one of the "executives". And then the president wasn't doing his job and no one else was doing their job, so I said "screw it" and that was the end of it. (I also had a pretty fantastic and emotional event take place and I basically said "screw life" and wanted to move to Iceland because I was fed up with everyone I knew, but that's not the point.) We even paid dues in this club! Alright, it was like ten dollars or something to join, but still... that was ten sodas from the machine, or money we could have used for lunch. Or at Jack-in-the-Box down the road. Or Starbucks.

I digress.

Politics is JUST like high school. Rumour fly, hair gets pulled, and (before you know it) someone is getting their trousers pulled down in front of the cafeteria and you've got the Sharks and the Jets about to rumble in the car-park and everyone is gathered to watch because this is the most exciting thing that's happened. Of course, the seniors and juniors are just like "whatever" because this crap happened their freshman and sophomore years and they've got more important things to take care of. Because this happens every four years. Or two years, depending on the size of your school and the cattiness of the student body.
...Wait a minute...

"Partisan politics" has become synonymous with "politics". It doesn't matter what your actual ideals are because we all know that "Liberal" means "Democrat" and "Conservative" means "Republican". Everyone is familiar with those two parties. When you ask someone their political affiliation, you're more likely to say "Are you a Republican or a Democrat?" than "Are you Conservative, or are you Liberal?" because the former sounds intelligent and the latter sounds too simple and frank.

I remember the commercial for the walkie-talkie on the phone. "If firemen ran the country"? Everything was straightforward and simple.
Not so with Congress. It doesn't matter if we don't WANT to watch the proceedings going on, but we'd like to have the option of knowing what the good-gosh-darned-heck our elected officials are doing when they're deciding how to spend our money and run our lives. No one ever says that they have "average citizens'" best interest at heart. That's something that we should be able to take for granted, but it's simply not true. The politicians in Washington care more about their political parties than they do abut the people who elected them.

In my opinion, we need more simplicity in our politics. No playing daes dae'mar, no manoeuvring for personal interests. It'd be great if everyone in Washington could just be quiet for a little while and get it together and do what's best for the citizens of this country. I really don't think that will happen, though, because everyone in office is secretly a high-schooler trying to get the popular kids to notice them so that they have a "better" place to sit at lunch.

Of course, what no one's telling anyone, is that the popular kids are cheating on tests and paying off the teachers to get better grades.