the champion.

When it comes to my blogging style, I have to admit I am intentionally lax in detail. I prefer the abstract, to allow what few readers I have to take the iniative and let their imaginations do the work. I delegate responsibility, so to speak. Okay yeah that means I'm lazy as all hell, but I believe the time has come to give back, and write an actual piece of work here.
Politics. What a trendy topic to have chosen for my debut effort. Everyone can thank the fantastic Colin Kerr for the inspiration. The explanation for this of course is the fact that he has graciously asked me to edit/proofread his thirty-two chapter essay on politics and philosophy.
After reading only the first page of the first chapter of said book I realized I am guilty of indifference to politics. That's right, I said it, I pretty much don't give a damn. I went through a phase for about six months where I was genuinely interested in CNN and FOX News, and then I simply stopped. I am twenty-three years old and I'm trying to make it on my own. I am currently not enrolled in college, I have yet to attain anything as minor as an Associates in Arts, and I find I am exercising apathy in every department promoting education, whether self-taught or institutionalized. At the same time, however, I am wildly envious of those the same age as myself who are on the way to achieving a Masters in some field such as microbiology or aerospace engineering - two professions which, ironically, I do not have the interest or the brain capacity to pursue. That's right, you have read correctly, I am smart and I am wasting my life pretending I'm not.
Politics have always been something which dually intrigued and baffled me. One would think a child growing up in a Navy household, the daughter of a petty officer who watched the national news like it was Saturday morning cartoons and the viewer a four-year-old eating Pop Rocks candy for breakfast, would have taken after her father and turned into a raging political activist. I'm sorry y'all, I have no such disease. I was immune to it. All this talk of Ron Paul is going right over my head. I feel like I should maybe join in the discussion, but the truth of the matter is I haven't studied and so I'd fail the exam. I don't even know what the man looks like, let alone what state he claims. I most certainly couldn't tell you what his political views are. Apparently he's some sort of superhero though. His slogan is "Hope For America"...it's got a nice ring to it. So he's out to save us. That's very thoughtful of him. As long as he can deliver a bullshitting speech without stuttering over words like "nuclear", I'm totally in. Where do I sign up?
I don't mean to beat up the man by any means. Compared to Hillary and Obama, who fight over the upcoming primary nomination like two preteen girls fighting over who's going to marry the current Hollywood heartthrob, Ron Paul is fairly competent. I don't see him investing in four-hundred dollar haircuts, or claiming himself to be the "true" conservative candidate, or involving himself in media catfights. Considering that with the very little news coverage I do allow myself to indulge in I have never once heard the man's name mentioned; hell, he's practically invisible. I wonder if they're doing that intentionally? Is there a chance that he may actually be an honest politician, even only one-fourth truthful? After all, in that line of business, honesty is a weakness on the inside. Of course you're not going to hear about him on the news. He's not worth mentioning. Ron Paul who? Sounds like a pop star who was caught soliciting in a public bathroom in Southern California. They'd let you believe it too if it weren't for those signs. Hope for America!
Ron Paul's gonna save us all. Don't you want to believe it?
I think I do. After all, I'm lazy, and I'm sure as hell not going to be the one to do it.

[originally written on October 20, 2007]