Monday, September 21, 2015

Why People Hate Politics

You know why people hate politics? You know why a lot of your friends who are really smart, funny, and really enjoyable don't talk about politics? You know why people hate "the media" and "career politicians"?


Candidates, politicians, and journalists treat it like a game, and it's dumb.
Ben Carson says the United States should not elect a Muslim president.

"I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that," the retired neurosurgeon and Republican presidential candidate said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Apparently, this is now the big controversy that all the important journalists and politicians need to weigh in on? This is why people hate politics.

First of all, we don't even have a Muslim candidate out there anywhere who is waiting in the wings to run for President at this time. It's an entirely non-factual hypothetical.

For that matter, we might as well be asking Dr. Carson if he would support or be comfortable with a Jedi as a President. There are no Jedi candidates. If one ever comes along, okay, we'll talk about it. Until then, what the hell are you people doing?

Obviously, there's a better way to answer this question. Jonah Goldberg has it here:
I think this is a ridiculous question designed to create bogus controversies that distract from real issues and paint me and my party in a negative light. But since you asked: Of course a Muslim can be a president. So can Hindus, Buddhists and atheists. For that matter so can Satanist, Klingons and Jedis (if they’re natural-born American citizens of course). But that doesn’t mean a candidate’s faith is irrelevant. It is deeply relevant. Liberal politicians love to invoke their religious faith when defending welfare programs, spending on the environment and education. They only say faith has no place in politics when faith proves inconvenient to the liberal agenda. Suddenly, they don’t think the government should be imposing religious values on others. What they really mean is that no values should ever come before the liberal agenda. If a Muslim wants to run for president, great. Throw your hat in the ring and explain how your faith informs your agenda. The rest of us have to do it, so should a Muslim. If his answers are no good, he won’t get elected.
Crap like this "Muslim President controversy" is precisely why people hate politics. It has nothing to do with our lives, or making this country better, or anything remotely relevant to actual issues. It's just a dumb game that some people in DC play for their own amusement.

It makes me want to vote for a big freakin' meteor to hit the Earth.

Note: Thanks to @JeffMfromSC for pointing out that I needed to credit Jonah Goldberg on the answer to the question. I need to get better about linking great stuff from other people so they can get credit for their great lines. Apologies to the great Jonah Goldberg.

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