While I am, and continue to be, an advocate for voting it's hard not to be super cynical about these political party conventions. Cable news says that these events are important for the party to unleash it's "message" to the American people but it really seems more like a self absorbed reason to bash the other party, watch highlights of former party glory, release lots and lots of balloons, and in general have a good time with liquor and hookers.
I especially like how members of the party of inclusion, these champions of civil rights, are sipping Manhattans on the convention floor while protesters try to exercise their First Amendment rights behind the walls of a makeshift parking lot prison — and they are the lucky ones, some were told by the government to go home.
Unfortunately these self-stroking events do nothing more than create mounds of useless meta data about useless meta data. Nothing of any real value hell, it's not even entertaining. At least the Soviets knew how to hold party conventions — military parades and all. What's not to get excited when you get to see the latest in ICBMs rolling down the Big Dig?
I used to think that this is where a third party could help but now I see that it would only create another 33.333% more of this crap every four years. Although it's likely the Green Party would forgo a big concrete building in favor of planting some trees, making clothes out of hemp and hold a candle light vigil for something.
Already my head is beyond this crap and well into November. I mean It's not like the upcoming debates are going to amount to anything more than a cable news version of tic-tack-toe. Don't get me wrong, this election is important but tonight I'm looking more forward to November 9th, the day we all get to finally play Halo 2.
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Considering this, there's something to be said about independent candidates or a system without central government. Maybe the LIbertarian party should get a go at ammending the US Constitution.
So true! Actually, it would produce a giant 50 percent more of this shit to have a 3rd party. Depressing.
Sometimes I really wish we had four parties: a Centrist Party (or whatever name they wished) and a whacked-out Religious Party that would suck off all of the super-rightist and extreme Christians and let them feel more powerful, but (hopefully) make them more marginalized in practice. Maybe a good compromise solution would be that the Republickan Party just eject the wingnuts. I may actually vote for them once in a while in that case.
The Democrats could return to being the "liberal" party (if they wished), and maybe that would let other existing parties like the Greens and the Communists gain some input into the process.
I recently read a very interesting blog post (can't remember where) in which the author stated that our version of democracy is antiquated, and that an Israeli or Japanese version is far more fit to reflect modern times (since those democracies were created in modern times). It sounds reasonable enough when one hears the arguments, but the problem is the fact that in order to get to that sort of system, we'd have to go through an enormous crisis. I'm not prepared to deal with that, I don't think.
Halo 2! I’m happily not following it so I will be surprised when it comes out but November 9th sounds as good a date as any. To bad I’m not on the west coast of America or I would totally make the trip out to PAX presented by Penny Arcade. As they will have Halo 2 (scroll down) there before it comes out!
So, essentially what you're saying is this:
You should vote. It is important. But be ignorant, jaded or bitter (your choice) right up until election day, because working through all of the noise and soundbytes to find the real message is too time-consuming, if not just too hard.
That's how you make informed choices.
Bah. You don't really think that, do you?
Greg, you are right. It's all about the money. Until that is extracted from politics, the Republocrats will continue to field losers and breed cynicism and contempt for the "democratic" process and voting.
And while a 3rd party might not be any better, I'm sure willing to give one a shot.
What really discourages me is that so many people are actually discouraged about this election. However, the other (third?) parties have not put their foot forward and made a stand. I have come to feel that unless people check out the alternate candidates then we'll be stuck with a crap-fest every four years. Do you vote for 'Chief Chokes on a pretzel' or 'Chief Falls off a bike' or 'Chief goofy grin' and his Porno VP running mate?
Halo was the first thing on my mind when I read the entry title.
Ryan, I don't see how watching the conventions will make a voter any more educated than reading or watching the news. And I don't believe the upcoming Repulican convention will be any better, if not worse. My point is that these multi-million dollar events only creates a huge amount of meta data for the media to report and comment on. That's not information that's commentary on commentary, not exactly what I would recommend people on the fence to pay attention too.
Stephen, I'm hoping to get Halo 2 a tad earlier than the release date if all goes according to plan. *wink*
Conventions are indeed just infomercials. I think the reason so many people don't vote is because there's really not much choice for a voter to make.
The first thing on my mind with this post was Halo 2 as well. I've a friend at Bungie who's totally nuts about it. He has a beta version he's been playing constantly, too bad I'm on the other side of the country. Has anyone seen the trailer in the theaters? Saw it before The Bourne Supremacy (wow) last night and it was, [awesome].
Litening to WNYC coverage of the DemCon '04 and I have to say I agree. It's the same crap I've been hearing all year. And I'm sure the RepCon '04 is gonna be worse. At this point, I'll vote for whichever candidate can frag the best. I'm guessing it's Kerry, which is good, 'cause he's not the antichrist. Whatever I'll be saving the entire world come November 9th, doubt Kerry or Bush can top that...
Very true, very true. I read the title, quickly thought of Halo 2's release, then read... wondering what the title had to do with anything, and then... Halo 2. That's going to be a good game.
I say the exact same thing, but will not miss a second of it.
I don't want to watch, I want to walk away, but I am a junkie helpless to the lure of politics.
The conventions want to sway the people on the fence. Who are these people on the fence? I have not known anyone on the fence in 12 years. This is a country polarized. This will not be about changing minds, it will be about which party can better lure their people off the couch to actually go vote.
Ok... yes- mostly these events are preaching to the choir, finger pointing, and back patting. And in terms of issues, they're certainly not getting down to brass tacks... that time has yet to come.
But if we dial down our cynic-meter for a second, might there be something here worth our while?
1. "Nothing But more Meta". This may be true if you only watch the news... but if you happen to spend a few minutes on C-Span watching things as they unfold, taking in a few speeches in their entirety, and getting in touch with groups that are putting in calls to the folks that are speaking, you can get a little deeper into what's going on there.
2. "unleash the message vs. self absorption". While I can't ENTIRELY disagree, I have to say that I think there's some value in party spokesmen and activists finding their voice.
The fact of the matter is, there ARE some people "on the fence"- and there are also some people who are caught between long standing party affiliations and their current candidates (or presidents, as the case may be.)
For those who support (or are even humoring a fleeting interest in) the Dems, Clinton, Kennedy, Obama, and even Carter (!!!) have had some of the really good things to say these last few nights.
More than calling the Bushies faults, they've arguably done some of the first good work at clarifying a stronger democratic vision for the party (or maybe even the nation) than we've seen in QUITE some time.
If you've been watching intently and are still too jaded to find some spec of hope in this process, god bless you... it's been a long hard ride, and hell, it's 'just politics'.
But for those who haven't taken a good listen to the people that are talking- whether "boycotting" altogether, or only getting their bites from CNN/ABC/FOX...
Please, keep your healthy skepticism- it keeps us all honest. But do yourself a favor, and go take a listen/look/read. C-SPAN.org and pbs.org both have complete speeches available...
You might just find a little more fire, a little more vision, hell... a (little!) more honesty and genuine hope than you give these folks credit for.
Better than these conventions and debates, would be a "Halo 2" deathmatch with the winner takes all. Democracy at its best.
Surely beats these coneventions and the election (no recounts)!
Hard to tell whether many people posting here have even attempted to listen to any of the speeches, which have frankly been pretty good. If after doing so you can't see that there is a pretty substantial difference between the positions of Bush and Kerry, then your cynicism is going to prevent you from making an intelligent, informed choice. Then again, anything short of armed struggle seems to be met with world-weary disdain in most quarters these days.
It's pretty hard to take a discussion about the presidential primaries seriously when most people seem to want to talk about a computer game.
there's speculation that halo 2 may even be released earlier. sketchy and vague, at best, but it can only make things better. http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/07/27/news_6103575.html
Tim, I don't have to listen to speeches to know that whatever John Kerry says is going to sound a thousand times better than whatever comes out of Bush's mouth. These speeches are little more than a press conference without the Q&A period at the end. I don't see how they can improve anyones intelligence in choosing the right candidate.
Any monkey can recite a speech, well almost any monkey.
The debates coming in October are were the fats at — when we get to see these guys in the ring, as it were, without teleprompters and scripted balloon releases.
Now if only we could have more than three, well that would be a peach.