Politically Speaking
As we get further into this presidential election year, I find myself becoming more interested in the nomination process as Democrats and Republicans both try to figure out not who the best candidate is for the country, but the most likely to be marketable to the country as a whole. If you know anything about my political views, you'd know that I'm very cynical when it comes to politics. To me, it's simply a giant popularity contest, similar to electing a class president in high school.
To go a step further, I have said before and will say again that I don't view the President of the United States much differently than I view the Queen of England. Neither has a major influence over their country (that would be Congress and Parliament who have the major influences in their respective countries), but both are pointed to for the commendations or criticisms of the current state of affairs. Now, this hasn't always been the case, but it's been that way my entire lifetime. In fact, I can't even remember seeing a truly qualified candidate run for the presidency all the way to election day.
To say that television and JFK changed the presidency forever would not be an understatement.
Now, with that foundation laid, the reason why I find the primaries interesting is that there are still candidates in the mix who are qualified and truly want to make the U.S. a better place. This year is no exception.
Next time, I plan on giving a run down of my stances on the major issues (as opposed to making this one giant political entry). That way, you can see where I'm coming from when I put together a rundown of the candidates still in the running from each party. Being a registered voter without any affiliation, I hope to keep an non-partisan view of the candidates, but will maintain the bias of my personal views and beliefs. Keep an eye out for that!
If you really believe that the POTUS is comparable to the Queen of England, every history/government/civics teacher you've ever had needs punched in the mouth.
There are probably a few of my history/government/civics teachers who need punched in the mouth, but that's because they spent too much time hitting on high school girls.
What was the last strictly presidential action taken that had a major impact on our way of life? I can't really think of anything since the Cuban Missile Crisis back in the days of JFK, which was 40-odd years ago. In my lifetime, Regan rode the Cold War wave until the Berlin Wall came down, George H. Bush regrettably got us over-involved in the Middle East, Clinton spent half of his tenure testifying and George W. simply picked up where his dad left off.
Do you think things would have been drastically different if George H. had been re-elected, Clinton never was elected, or Kerry won four years ago? I honestly don't think things would be much different, because there's only so much that the president can do, and that is dictated in large by congress.
Meanwhile, businesses and corporations have increasingly grown in political power as their reach is far beyond our borders. Their influence in congressional lobbying is immense, and they have arguably had more of an impact on our way of life than any president in the last 30 years.
I'd love to hear what you think I'm missing though.