Good morning, celery sticks. Let’s shoot the bull for a little while. Or instead of bull, how about some bitter facts? Want to try a different perspective, perhaps? Let’s get pissed off.
Here’s your warning. I’m about to barrage you with lots of information. Many of you will take this in and think, “Cespedes is so critical and cynical, gosh.”
Unfortunately for you, this statement will just be a psychological response which you have been conditioned to make in order to cope with the fact both sides of the coin are faulty. (Don’t worry, this statement will make more sense in a minute depending on how fast you read.) After associating these truths with cynicism, you will logically disregard them or store them right next what you ate for dinner seven months ago.
On your mark, get set, go.
Sarah Palin has a 17-year-old daughter who was impregnated via fornication. Controversial? What about Palin’s own shotgun wedding? Yes, Palin was pregnant when she married. Do these things say anything whatsoever about her qualifications as a vice president? No. Did you know that the Obamas’ kids are not on the campaign trail with Barack and Michelle? Their grandmother takes care of them. Does this matter to you?
Joe Biden has only given around $4,000 over 10 years of income, a mere .15 percent.
What about the fact that Todd Palin registered in October 1995 to the Alaska Independence Party, a radical group that pushes for Alaskan secession from the United States?
The list goes on and on. Most of it is spread daily to both sides via the television. Few, if any, ever realize the insignificance of such issues. We feel “informed” about our candidate even though we neither research nor read. Divided, we are then easily conquered.
Joseph Stalin once said, “It doesn’t matter who the people voted for; they always vote for us.” Want to talk about some real issues? Let’s highlight a couple.
Palin has been labeled a “fiscal conservative,” one who battled against wasteful, pork-barrel spending in Alaska. Well, as the mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired one of Alaska’s top lobbying firms to grab nearly $27 million in federal appropriations for her constituents, according to The Washington Post.
Wasilla earned $900,000 for municipal sewer repairs, almost $2 million for a transportation hub and $15 million for a rail link, to name a few. All this in a town of merely 6,700 people summed to thousands of dollars per resident in federal spending. In other words, this is your tax money. The story’s the same for John McCain, and unfortunately for you, I am constrained by a word count.
But what about Obama? He is making a killing (millions) from Wall Street contributions, well over half a million from Goldman Sachs and close to that amount from JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley. It’s the same from hedge-fund executives. He leads McCain in both categories. So why would big business back Obama with so much money while he simultaneously swears to take away from them billions in tax exemptions?
It’s simple. He’s full of crap, hot air, whatever you want to call it. And you can bet that if he wins, big business will make sure that his tax policies are like Obama himself – something that merely looks good.
Do you ever find it astounding that less of half of eligible voters in the United States vote? Or have you also been brainwashed into believing that this is “normal” for a country which is supposed to run democratically?
In Australia, along with many other countries, you suffer the penalty of a fine if you choose not to vote. Yes, I realize this is kind of ironic in the sense that it defiles our right to choose to vote or not to vote. What else can we expect to happen but the democratic atrophy that we currently suffer? It is one of which I, along with many others, am most culpable, because if I could vote, I would not bother this election.
It is Plato who said, “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” How can we remain satisfied with the caliber of our candidates and the way in which they are both being bribed by the same big money interests?
Cattle are considered “docile” because they are willingly fed, herded and taken care of until it is their time to be slaughtered. They never realize that they are doing exactly what is wanted out of them. They have no free will. Wake up. Open your minds. Go read. Challenge yourself. Get involved and impassioned about the future of this great country. Then maybe one day this country can glow with true change.
Julio Cespedes is a junior majoring in biological engineering. He can be contacted at
[email protected] .