I'm sick of politics.

[KevinTheOmnivore]

Mod, I will be the yin to Preechr's a prick.

I don't believe very much in ideology these days. Aside from it serving as a divisive tool, I also think it generally plays very little role in practical policy. I have become an absolute sellout. I am a registered Democrat, but that means nothing to me. The parties mean nothing to me, and I only registered with the party b/c DC is a Communist state.

The problem with politics isn't something that can be summed in this thread, it's a 3 month seminar with power point displays and guest lecturers. And scantron tests. I hate those fucking things....

Anyway, the problem with grand platforms and ideologies is that they generally aren't applicable to real policy and practice. I once asked a "high up" in the Green Party how a Green could run in a small town as, I dunno, town supervisor, and make the position fit the ideology (or the "values" in the case of the GP). I don't recall his answer, which leads me to believe that it wasn't very good.

The problem with poltics is that 90% of it is about campaigns and swaying public perception, and the other 10% is about actual policy. It also tends to be about "big" things, too. Think about your disgust, it's probably over Iraq, federal elections, and ports or something. Your disgust probably doesn't stem from being inundated by the Ithaca (oops! Sorry!) town board, or city council, or you get the point. Yet THEY are probably overseeing a heck of a lot of the stuff that has a direct effect on your daily life that you take for granted. They make sure your water is on, they make sure there are cops on your street, and when there's a dispute over whther or not recycling should be on Thursdays or Tuesdays, they probably handle that. Let's not even get into the county government, whatever boring but necessary stuff they do....

Senators and representatives live in worlds of compromise and capitulation. They submit bills that get ripped apart and chewed up and come out looking nothing like what they proposed. Most congressmen and women have very unfulfilling careers, and if you enter congress to get things done, you need to plan on staying a long time. This is where politics and campaigns come into play. They play politics and act like ideologues becasue they can afford to. Their records tend to be so bland or mixed, it never really matters.

My advice would be to stop reading the national pages, and check out the state and local stuff some more (which certainly isn't devoid of politics, ESPECIALLY in NY, but it's lightly better). Most people in politics do it thanklessly, and make very little money doing it. Everybody wants to be the senator who gives big speeches on Iraq or immigration. Most people end up being the city councilman who passes resolutions on picking up dog poop. These are my heroes.