politics politics politics.

Obama's presidency has made me realize one thing. I am not a Republican or a Democrat. Bush was elected to the Presidency the year I turned 18. So from the time I became an eligible voter, Republicans were in power. Like so many thinking people, I disliked the man from the start. He seemed to have a special talent for making bad decisions. He may or may not have been elected fairly, 9-11 happened on his watch, then he started a war that didn't really need to happen. And he did it all while blundering his way through diplomatic affairs and becoming quite notorious for saying stupid things. I'm really not a fan.

I voted for Obama because he seemed so not Bush. He is articulate, smart, and diplomatic. And he has done plenty of things I don't agree with either. I see a real difference in the way Republicans and Democrats deliver their propaganda though. There's a real element of fear-mongering with the Republicans about how people "who aren't like us" are going to attack and eat your babies. It really seems that ludicrous to me at times. This particularly applies to Oklahoma Republicans who have introduced such novel legislation as Senate Bill 402 in the 48th Legislature, also sometimes affectionately called the "De-nutting Bill". This amazing piece of legislation requires castration for pedophiles. We've had some amazingly bad and just unintelligent legislation go through the Oklahoma legislature, but this bill pops up from time to time on a fairly regular basis. And has fortunately been shot down each time, because it is clearly unconstitutional. It pops up here and again on about election time, so they can get the locals out of the house to go and vote.

Let me just state now that I am not soft on sex crimes. And people who commit them should be punished to the maximum extent that the law allows. But really, your going to castrate them when there is no medical science to prove that it would actually dissuade violent tendencies?

To me, this is a perfect example of a pattern. That demonstrates a rigid legalist nature that I find lacking in basic human compassion. All that being said, I've realized recently that I'm not a really a Democrat or a Republican. There's plenty of stuff I don't like about both parties. I just usually find myself voting Democrat because Republican shenanigans make me ridiculously angry.