The following post is a post about politics on a blog that normally does not discuss politics because it’s something that this blog does not like to talk about, but I guess we need to talk about this because sometimes I need to let out that borderline misanthropic side that absolutely hates humanity for its constant stupidity. If you would rather not read about such things, then skip this post and move on to… just about anything else on this blog. There’s going to be a new review up later today on an old Atari game that’s more entertaining and happy than this post. Otherwise, please bare with me as I ramble about a recent political event.
So… I guess that’s in the books, huh?
So I generally don’t discuss politics around these parts – it’s not something that I am not qualified to discuss with any semblance of deep knowledge or sense. Nor is it something that I really want to dive into on a blog that is mostly dedicated to silly stuff that’s fun and interesting to me. Politics is something that can be pretty divisive among folks and can cause nasty feelings. I try to get away from nasty feelings on this thing and anything that I share a genuine “intense dislike” or “hatred” for. These are things that I genuinely do not want anything to do with on this forum of mine.
Most of all, I don’t want to discuss American politics in particular. It involves a country I don’t live in, but lots of people in my limited audience does. And my post here is not to judge the voting habits of the civilians. You’re doing your civic duty to contribute to this democratic that allows you to choose your next leader or whatever. You’re given two (largely possible) choices, neither of which inspire much hope for the future… but your only other option is to no-show. Maybe that would’ve been the better option, but then comes the doubt when the person you wanted least to win actually wins… maybe if you had done your part, things would be different? I don’t know… maybe…
This is a conundrum that makes me thankful for being Canadian, where an election ’round these parts gives us many choices. And when the parties with the best chances of winning doesn’t inspire much confidence, you opt to vote for one of the smaller parties. Not necessarily because you believe in said party, but because you believe that none of the major political parties in question are worthy of your vote; that you have no confidence in any of the major powers likely to take control of your government once the election is up… which is probably why we’re stuck the useless sack of shit named Trudeau as Prime Minister.
But I’m not here to discuss my pain… I’m here to discuss yours… and perhaps touch on where the blame should be placed on for this happening. See, I may not be American, but the dilemma is clear as day. It basically boils down to two choices that have any chance of gaining power in the political structure of your country. And when neither choice inspires much confidence, it’s no better than tossing a coin and seeing what comes up. It’s the thought of reality setting in that no matter who wins the next election, the entire country is fucked.
I felt this way back in 2016 when the race was Trump vs. Hillary. Everyone was so certain that Hillary was going to win it and nobody was going to vote for this nimrod Trump, who had a rather colorful history, to say the least. Back in the day, though, I didn’t think either were good choices. If I had to choose, I’d be voting Ross Perot… who’s dead. Yes, I think a deceased Ross Perot, reincarnated through a combination of mad science and black magic, would make a better president than either of the clowns running for office. Basically, I’d go for the other choices that isn’t represented by an elephant or a donkey… because that’s my choice. If my choice isn’t one of your two beloveds and you have an issue with it, then that’s your problem, not mine. Maybe next election, give me candidates that have a chance of winning that I can actually have faith in running this country well for the next four years or actually have a chance in making it great and keeping it great.
Let’s go on a side digression here for a bit, yeah? Does anyone remember the Ghostbusters reboot from 2016? The one by Paul Feig starring four actresses? The one that got a ton of backlash for a variety of reasons – most notably the gender swapping, the disregard for past continuity, or just the fact that the first trailer for this thing was just god awful and did not paint this film in a positive light? You remember what the reaction was? Blame on the white male, who can’t stand having WOMEN in starring roles or whatever the case may be.
“You know what, white men?” they cried, “We don’t need your sexist, misogynist kind watching our movie! In fact, if you hate this, then don’t watch it, bitches! HA! WE SHOWED THEM?!”
The white man replied. “Okay, so we won’t watch.”
And what happened? The movie bombed… obviously. And what did the crew do? They blamed it on the white man who didn’t watch their movie… even after telling them not to watch their movie.
I bring this up because a similar tactic was brought up with the Hillary campaign, who was SO SURE that Hillary would get an easy win over this doofus Trump because why would ANYONE vote for this dunderhead… unless they were RACIST and all that jazz. Because that strategy worked so well for the Ghostbusters remake (so well that the next movie ignored the reboot altogether and just became a follow-up to the first two movies from long ago) as well as the umpteenth Terminator movie that also had a cast of women (which also bombed, by the way… although to be fair, in the case of Dark Fate, it’s less a matter of the movie starring women and more a matter of yet another Terminator reboot that nobody wanted), so let’s do it on a grander scale.
“FUCK YOU, MEDIOCRE WHITE MAN! IF YOU’RE NOT WITH HILLARY, YOU’RE A RACIST, SEXIST PIG AND WE DON’T WANT YOU!”
“Fine, then,” the mediocre white man said, “We’ll just vote for Trump.”
So after months of “Hillary Clinton being our next president FOR SURE” and “If You Vote For Trump, You’re A Racist, Sexist, Etc.” as well as “FUCK YOU, WHITE MEN! WE DON’T NEED YOU! HILLARY DOESN’T NEED YOU!” and make up whatever… guess what happened?
Donald Trump won.
The ignoramus who people wrote off as a joke and figured no sane person would actually vote into office was voted into office and became the forty-fifth President of the United States of America.
Needless to say, America under Trump was… well, it wasn’t great from an outsider point of view. Some would argue otherwise, but considering everything that happened under his watch, to see Trump not win a second term in 2020 was considered to be a step up. Unfortunately, the guy who would succeed Trump – Joe Biden – wasn’t that much of an upgrade. Oh, people were enamored with the guy, but it’s not like things were back to the glory days of Obama or even George W. Honestly, I think Biden got the duke because of his running mate, Kamala Harris. Most figured one of these days, Joe might croak on the job and Harris would take the reigns. Thankfully, that didn’t happen and Biden can live long enough to complete his one term in office. The last thing I want to see is another Kim Campbell situation, which is probably what would have happened had things gotten to that point.
Right, so in June 1993, Brian Mulroney had stepped down as Prime Minister of Canada and was succeeded by Kim Campbell, making her the first and only woman to hold the position. 1993 also happened to have a federal election in November that ultimately saw Campbell voted out of office in favor of Jean Chretien. She lasted a little over four months.
So when Donald Trump made his bid to run for office once more this year, giving us the rematch nobody wanted… well, we’re back to 2016 again where I’m not exactly thrilled with either option that Americans have to deal with. Are they going to continue with another four years of Biden – whose competency was being questioned as time went on due to numerous gaffs here and there – or are things so bad that the idea of Donald Trump getting another term despite all his legal issues too numerous to mention here actually considered a step up?
In all honesty, I found myself largely ambivalent about this year’s election. As far as I was concerned, this election is going to mean nothing more than the start of another four-year wait.
Why four-year wait?
Well, I figure that you folks have four years to come up with two viable candidates for the 2028 election that has enough viable credentials, credibility, and smarts beyond mere competency to actually be the President that your country actually needs to survive – much less thrive.
Truth be told, I don’t know if I’d call it a four-year wait since I’ve honestly have been waiting since 2012. What happened in 2012, you may ask? Well, that was the year that sitting President of the United States, Barrack Obama, won his second term. I don’t say this as a knock against Obama – I thought he was a good President for his time and quite possibly the last President that I would consider competent at his job and trustworthy of his position. But you know the rules of American politics – a standing president can only serve two terms, which means they need to find someone else to fill his spot and go up against the opposition. So regardless of whether Obama was good or not, by 2016, he was gone and we were left with choices that, as someone sitting on the outside, didn’t inspire much confidence.
Unfortunately, one of those choices had to win, and with that, one thing became crystal clear. Regardless of who won that election, the country was fucked either way.
And now here we are again… once again, Donald Trump has been voted into office. The man’s in his second term. For some, that’s great. For others, not so much… but for those who are bracing themselves for the next four years, there is a slight silver lining to all this. Once those four years are up, that’s the last you’re gonna see of him, because he’s had his two terms and he can’t go for more. Hence, the four-year wait…
Look, I wish I had something more uplifting or substantial to add to this whole conversation, but I don’t. I’m not a pundit of these affairs; I’m just some doofus with a blog talking about ancient video games, pretend fighting, and slightly less ancient entertainment program that does a better job of engaging me than the current crop of… whatever you folks want to call the stuff that’s on television these days… or anywhere else for that matter… I’m just rambling some random thoughts on this stuff and I really don’t know what the next four years are going to be like. Maybe we’ll be okay. Maybe we’ll be worse off. Maybe we’ll all be dead.
But hey, if we survive… do better on your next election.
Vote Ross Perot.
And next year, I’ll vote for Jack Layton.
Even though they’re both dead.
Maybe we can reanimate them and bring them back to life or something… stick their heads in jars and they can run the continent from there. It’d be better than what we’ve got now.
Fuck it. I’m done.
Fun stuff coming later today.
Bye.
dtm666 