A political burnout

[click pic to embiggenate]

You may have noticed that I haven’t been posting much political stuff here lately.

I KNOW! Shocking, isn’t it? I still post the occasional thing on Facebook, and more rarely on Twitter (Twitter is more like my Fun Place™), but for a political junkie like me, it’s weird to not be posting as much about politics.

The truth is that I’m a little worn out from it all. I was so obsessive about involved in the ‘08 and ‘12 presidential elections, with ‘10 thrown in there for good measure, and I had a lot of fun with that. But as I’ve seen the obstructionist gridlock continue in Washington, I’ve become angry and jaded and tired of the whole damn mess. I avoid most political discussions on Facebook, because I’m just tired of it all.

As far as I’m concerned, Congress can go suck a bag of dicks. There are absolutely some great people who are fighting for the average folks and who are not beholden to corporations, lobbyists, and special interest groups, but they are few and far between. I don’t think I’ve ever been so disgusted as when Congress failed to pass stricter background checks on gun purchases. I wanted to give every single one of them who voted against it a great big punch in the face. A few bloodied knuckles would have been well worth it.

To use one of our President’s favorite phrases, let me make this perfectly clear. Although I am not happy with everything President Obama is doing or has done, at least he is TRYING to get shit done. The majority of the American people want immigration reform; we want more stringent background checks; we want to see Congress work to enact common sense measures to promote job growth and nudge our economy into a more robust recovery. We want them to GOVERN.

What do we get instead? Idiot teabaggers hijacking the Republican party and demanding further spending cuts, despite all evidence to the contrary that austerity measures hinder growth rather than promoting it, at least during recession recovery. We get these windowlicking dumbasses going back to the culture wars of the Reagan years and telling women that they have to have an invasive vaginal ultrasound before they can get an abortion, and we get religious rhetoric from the braindead godbotherers in Congress who think it is perfectly okay to legislate based on THEIR religious text...but only theirs, because theirs is the One True Religion™! Fuck that separation of church and state thing, right?

Let me also make it perfectly clear that they have not driven me into apathy. I know many who are so disgusted by it that they swear off politics altogether. I have not done that and will not do that. I am taking a much needed break and tuning out all the talking head chatter—much of it is nothing less than ridiculous, anyway—but I’m still paying attention. And I’m angry. As we get closer to the midterm elections and then the presidential election of ‘16, you can expect me to get back to my normal feisty and involved self.

In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy the summer, enjoy music and movies, and have myself a good time. There will be plenty of time to dive back into it in a few months, as the midterm campaigns begin. Some people are probably permanently burnt out on it, though.

Political apathy? You built that, Congress. Great job. Now go DO your fucking jobs, why don’t you?