It has become a tradition in this column that no matter what is said, or how it is stated it should be offensive to somebody. So why break from tradition now?
In the wake of the presidential debates that happened last week, as well as the impending elections to take place in November, it is has come to my attention that I have not yet voiced my opinion on the president, the election, or the electoral process as a whole. I am aware that this article is primed to make both friends and enemies of The Skyline View, however, I must say this here and now to avoid as many pieces of hate mail as possible:
The contents to be viewed hereby in this column are the sole opinions of myself and I take full responsibility for said contents. Any disagreements you may have may be voiced in a letter to the editor that you may send to The Skyline View’s e-mail account, which will run in the next issue. Now, let us get to the fun part.
The President of the United States-many say that he is a great leader, a great president, and as he might say, “a fantabulicious guy.” I would, however, be forced to disagree with each of those descriptions, depending of course on Webster’s definition of fantabuliciousness.
The fact of the matter is this: George W. Bush is a fool, and he’s selfish. Ever since he has come into office, the country has only gotten worse. Day to day life is still just as bad as it was for the majority of the population. And now, on top of an extremely wrecked economic situation (see rising gasoline prices) we are now seeing a drop in employment.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that President Bush will be the first president since Herbert Hoover to see U.S. payroll employment drop during his tenure. Add to this the fact that we are now in the midst of a war that spawned from the ashes of Sept. 11.
The only problem I have with this is that the war we are in, is in Iraq-a place that had no connections to those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as the fact that the administration that is currently in power has yet to discover any weapons of mass destruction. If you will remember, this was the entire basis of the U.S. army invading Iraq in the first place.
The problem with most Americans is that they cannot see the truth behind the war we’re in; President Bush is the son of a man also named George Bush. George Bush Sr. was the president during the first war in Iraq, in which Sadam Hussein was his enemy.
Every life lost in Iraq from this war is because George W. Bush is on a personal vendetta mission to get back at the enemy of his father. Were it not for this one reason, we would not be in Iraq, we would not be at war and over 1,000 U.S. troops would not be dead.
To get away from the problems caused by President Bush, let us discuss the problem that caused the problem of Bush, the Electoral College system. In essence, every state is awarded a number of votes based upon its population according to the most recent census reports.
Once the voting is done the candidate who received the most popular votes, which as I understand it means actual votes, in turn, receives all of the electoral votes allotted to that particular state.
So, we have ourselves a process where one candidate may receive the most votes from the people, meaning very simply that they are the person whom most of the country wants to be their president. While at the same time, another person actually becomes the president, due to the fact that some states have more electoral votes than others.
The flaw with the system, as a whole, is that not everyone who is registered to vote actually does so. Because of this, we encounter the problem of the opinion of the few dictating the future of the whole.
Now, add to this other issues, such as problems arising out of the state of Florida. These problems don’t seem terribly suspect, except for the suspicious family ties (Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is the president’s brother) which should have been considered compromising the dignity of the entire system, but were somehow chalked up to coincidence. And as most of us can recall of the 2000 general election fiasco in the state over the votes, they were recounted a thousand times, and ultimately never really figured out.
I will end with this-we are living in what can be considered the most powerful country on the planet. We tell people that we are not out to police the world, however looking at the country as a whole, I am reminded of the Roman Empire. Unless things change, and change drastically, I fear we as well shall meet the same fate as they.
I am the Accordion Cowboy, and this has been I’m Mentioning….