Frustrating.

*Note - written May 9th, 2008*

So, I went to the John McCain town hall meeting this week at OU. And, I've got to say, I've never been so interested and infuriated all at the same time.

The main reason it was interesting was just to see a politician in action. I couldn't believe how he could so eloquently squirrel his way out of answering just about any straight forward question and still have his supporters eating out of the palm of his hand. All I could think was "How the hell did he do that?!"

He made some very good points about a variety of things. I like a lot of his ideas. But, I had a couple of huge issues with the whole event:

1. He came out immediately discussing human trafficking, freedom of religion, and child pornography. Don't get me wrong, these are huge issues that need to be addressed. But the fact is people need to hear that there's going to be some domestic relief on the home turf before we can find the strength to continue to be police officers across the world. Michigan is in a terrible position right now, and although these issues are of great importance, he should have come out and said "Folks, I know that's it rough, and I can't necessarily get you your jobs back, but here's what I've got planned."

2. There were four McCain protestors standing behind the bleachers, booing after every comment that McCain made that was in support of America. I have a couple of subpoints that go along with this.
a. If you have something to say, fucking say it. You don't like his campaign, there's nothing wrong with that, but create an intelligent question that addresses the issues that you have a problem with. It's young adults like you who just sit on the sidelines and bitch all the time about things that you don't even fully understand that give the rest of a bad reputation.
b. If you really wanted to stand up for what you believe in, volunteer for another person's campaign, or come out from behind the bleachers and show your face - if you're that passionate to the point of just being plain obnoxious and disrespectful, you shouldn't stand in the shadows. Don't be pansies.
c. Becoming politically involved does not mean reading up on one or two issues that you think define an entire person's campaign and then shoving those key points down our throats. This is not an effective way of understanding all the aspects of the person who is going to run our country. For example: just because a person respects life from the moment of conception until death does not mean he or she will have experience and insight necessary to run a country. That's the same for the opposite end of the spectrum - if someone is pro-choice, that doesn't necessarily mean he or she has what it takes. The same goes for issues involving the war in Iraq, social security, etc. READ UP ON EVERYTHING. You've got the time - if you've taken the time to read this blog, you have time to read up on summaries of every person's campaign.
d. If you're going to bitch about how nothing in this country is going right, do something about it. There's plenty of opportunities to fix this area/state/country/world, you just actually have to get up and look for it. Quit complaining - do something about it.

Overall, I'm still not sure who I'm going to vote for yet. I've got tons of time...but, all the same, it was so incredibly interesting to actually see a politician in action. I loved it. It infuriated me, but I loved it :)