2003-07-23 - 3:10 p.m.

Poll: Do You Really Live In a Democracy?

When I was a kid I never slept. Hell, I still don't. But the difference is I don't have parents trying to put me to bed while the sun is still out. Perhaps one of the most confusing things to me as a child was having to go to bed when the sun was still up. In the summer this was almost as bad has having to take a BATH!

I can remember my argument (it was always the same), "But DAD, the sun is still out!" Keep in mind that my parents quickly realized that I was a living plant. If the sun was out, there was no force in the universe that would keep me still. Gawd, I must have been a horrible child! But his reply was always the same, "Son, this isn't a democracy. Why don�t you just sit in bed and read til you fall asleep?"

Old habits never die. I still hate to sleep, but to this day I actually do like reading something before nodding off.

Anyway, in a few hours, American democracy is about to be tested for the second time in my life time. I can't think of a state where people have so much and so little power as in California. When I lived in Texas, the government actively got in people's way when voting. California, on the other hand, has an active process allowing the general public to put (often dumb) propositions on the ballots. Apparently we also have a recall procedure.

However bad you think the California economy is right now, it is probably worse. The media is under stating much of what is happening. My grandmother (who worked multiple jobs during the 1930s) warned me that me and my folks have never seen how bad it can get. I think she was right.

Anyway, enough signatures have been collected for Californians to recall our governor. This is historic! Agree with him or not, the ability of normal people to remove an elected official mid-term is incredible. It is something like this that prevents the US from becoming the next Iraq or 1930s Germany.

The problem is democracy comes at a price. Elections aren't free. Though I'll get paid to work in this recall election, just as I do for all of the other elections, I'd honestly do it for free. I'd get paid more money working at Taco Bell than I do on election days. The reason I work is, I do believe in democratic processes. Further, I don't trust most people to oversee them. I'm convinced they'll either cheat or are simply too stupid to handle the responsibility.

I just want to really make a statement. The governor's wife made a statement that this recall process is just like her husband has discovered he has cancer! That is perhaps one of the most insulting things I've ever heard. Comparing getting fired to finding out that you have a painful and terminal illness! Politicians need to realize that their job is really community service. It is a life choice, and if you fuck with people, they should have the power to immediately recall you. I rarely advocate violence, but having lost my grandfather to cancer (and having seen what it does to a human body) I hope she or her husband actually gets cancer. After Gray Davis is booted from office, they can laugh and say, "Well, we survived recall! Cancer should be a piece of cake!" Politicians like the Davis family should know that when you say stupid things and think your image is more important than a single human life that you really are unfit to serve.

n.p. a split second :: kiss of fury

-=-

<< previous - next >>