Politics As Usual

We are in the heart of the election season and it is painful. Not once, since I reached the legal voting age, have I ever failed to vote in a presidential election. True, I have missed a few (very few) local elections, but never a national one. Sometimes the people I voted for won and sometimes they lost, but I have always voted. There are times when I have voted against someone, or I should say their policies, more than I voted for the other person, but I have always voted. And, as the years go by, it becomes harder and more painful but I will still vote as long as I am alive and able.
It is painful because the only thing I can truly expect from whoever is elected is broken promises. If the other person were elected they would give us the same broken promises but they won't have the chance this time because they didn't get elected. All they will do is say, "I told you so" when the winner begins to renege on his or her campaign promises. Now I understand that many times they do mean to do what they promised but the political realities that are out of their control prevent them form doing so. This, however, does not ease my pain or disappointment. The rule of life seems to be that the more people promise change, the more things stay the same. The truth of the matter is that we can't eradicate greed (corporate or individual), dishonesty, lust for power, selfishness and complacency with a ballot. It resides in the human heart and politicians carry it into office with them and we citizens put up with is as long as their policies satisfy the same things in our hearts. Do the candidates sincerely love America and want to make her better? I really believe they do. Do I really want to lose weight, exercise and get fit? You bet your sweet bippy. (If you don't know what that means then you have never watched Rowan and Martin's Laugh In). Why will neither probably happen? They won't happen because the desire may be there but the will and the power aren't. America won't change until we have a change of heart not a change of Presidents, or Mayors, or Congress, etc.
Then why do I vote? First, I vote to protect my right to vote and my right to gripe about what our government is or is not doing. If you didn't vote, you need to shut up because you are just as much a part of the problem as those "lousy politicians" you are complaining about. The heart of America's heart problem is the complacency that comes from our selfishness. We won't do anything about anything unless it hits us in the pocket book. Shame on us! Second, I vote because of the great privilege it is to voice my opinion and convictions. Watch the news sometime and see how rare that is in this world. We are gripping about a few "hanging chads" when elections all over the world are either outlawed, rigged or held at gun point. Finally, (and I have more reasons but these will do for now) I vote because of all of the men and women who have sacrificed and died to give me this privileged right. When I enter that booth and take my ballot in hand I am there for Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln and many other statesmen who served, suffered and fought for this amazing system of government that can hand over the reigns of power peacefully every four years. I stand there to read my ballot for those who were blinded in combat to give me this privilege. I read it for them. I stand there for those who gave their legs so I could stand for them. I mark my ballot for those who had their arms blown off in the defense of this most precious gift; the gift of liberty. I vote to speak for all who lay silent in their graves after they had given their all for my freedom. And I vote for all their loved ones who suffered their loss. It is not only poor citizenship but and offense against the memory of their sacrifice not to vote. How dare we be too busy or too lazy to vote! How unforgivable to behave like petulant little children and refuse to vote because we "don't like" any of the candidates! We may not have the opportunity to vote for the best person for the job but we do have the best right to exercise; the right to vote.