Notes:
My First such commentary was of a political nature. I wrote this around the time of the Clinton/Dole presidential election. I was very displeased with the choices offered to me by the Democratic and Republican parties. After deciding I would never vote for that back-stabbing liar Bill Clinton again - and certainly not for his evil scumbag adversary Bob Dole. Why don't we have better choices? Then it occurred to me that unfortunately, I know the answer. Here it is.Special Note:
Regarding my choice of grammar in this writing: I chose to write this in the second person because I felt that the impact of the piece is better when written to an imaginary "you". "You" represents the hypothetical average American voter. I am not pointing the finger at you specifically.
So, without further ado...
You sit in your chair and complain about the people in Washington. You put them there. You decry Congress. You elected them. And you continue to elect them - the same people - time after time. If, in fact, you vote at all. You blame the president for all the maladies of our land and say we need strong leadership; as if one man could be responsible for - or capable of solving - all a nation's problems. You seem to want a Great Leader - yet you want freedom and oppose dictatorship - the only form of government capable of achieving what you say you want. You want someone else to fix it; someone else to do the work; someone else to blame. And you want freedom and the government out of your affairs. But you seem to want the government in other people's affairs to stop them from doing things you don't do.
Election year after election year, you continue to acquiesce to a political system consisting of two machines that produce two - and only two - possible choices for your next president. Both of these candidates must already be a skilled actor and a consummate liar, since only such a person can emerge successfully from out of either of these machines. They know they cannot succeed unless they appear to be all things to all people, and are expert in telling you what you want to hear. You have proven, time after time, that you will not elect them if they do not lie to you and appeal to the lowest common denominators of intelligence.
You have, indeed, the government you deserve.