Hit Me Again

As I've related to you before, I'm not planning to vote (save for a few ballot measures) in the election in two weeks. After nearly 30 years of upholding my "civic duty", I've decided that the exercise is a futile one. Year after year -- regardless of who I cast my votes for -- my government keeps moving farther and farther away from the ideals I believe in.

Today I read two articles on The Smirking Chimp that talk about the feeling of political impotence, though they draw different conclusions. The first, "Election 2010: Choosing the Abuser", likens the act of voting to a women who is repeatedly beaten by her spouse or partner (the principle involved, not the actual events).

Every day, 10,000 U.S. women are assaulted by their husband or boyfriend. Most often they do not leave, and the violence continues; psychologists call it battered women's syndrome. On Nov. 2, we're likely to see the political counterpart, where American voters -- despite a history of egregious Republican abuse -- decide to give the Grand Old Party one more chance...

Of course, from this writer's perspective, the Democrats don't qualify as abusers. I beg to differ! To me, the big difference between the Democrats and the GOP is that the former beats up the American people while telling them they aren't being beaten up as severely as the kind of punishment the latter would have dished out. It's like saying, "Yes, we gave you a fat lip, a black eye and we broke both your arms, but just be happy that, unlike the Republicans, we didn't break your legs too!"

This writer continues:

Psychologists say the typical battered woman is "depressed and anxious, with low self-esteem, a poorly integrated self-image, and a general inability to cope with life's demands." If that sounds familiar, it's a profile that fits many Americans in these difficult times. TIME political correspondent Joe Klein recently completed a 24-day, coast-to-coast trip across the U.S. What he found was anger and anxiety; a pervasive sense of powerlessness...

Over the past two years, who has held the presidency and control in both houses of Congress? We all know the answer to that question. It's the Democrats, the party that can't seem to pass any sort of progressive legislation EVEN when they firmly hold the reins of power. No wonder their own supporters feel completely power-less.

The other article, "How Voting Perpetuates Evil", states the case more simply.

The only logical conclusion is that lesser-evil voting perpetuates all the cancerous evil plaguing the political system. This should not surprise anyone. Regardless of party affiliation, major party candidates convincingly lie to voters and the tons of money poured into politics create a mass propaganda machine from both parties that deceives voters.

Lesser-evil voting sometimes works in favor of Democrats and sometimes favors Republicans. Negative advertising creates fear of some candidates and media pundits and celebrities use their considerable power to give voters reasons to vote for or against candidates. The thirst for true reforms of government persists, as evidenced by the Tea Party movement and even the election of President Obama. It is the force that moves the pendulum from one party to the other.

When will Americans wake up and realize that lesser evil still means evil? Least bad still means bad. Least corrupt still means corrupt. Least dishonest still means dishonest. Least stupid still means stupid...

I agree wholeheartedly with this assessment! Both parties abuse the vast majority over and over again. By voting for one or the other, we behave like the abused woman (or man) who stays with or returns to their abuser after the usual insincere apology. We set up shop as before and then act shocked when we are soon pummeled again.

In time, we come to think the abuse is our own fault and, in this particular case, we do share a large degree of the culpability. We willingly hand our abuser the sledgehammer we are beaten with. I, for one, have decided I will no longer hand either party that sledgehammer!