Tag Archives: current-events

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Remember, Remember, the 11th of September

I loved V for Vendetta. I will argue that the graphic novel was much better than the movie, but that’s the same argument everyone uses in similar situations. When I think of today, all I can think of is the famous line from it: remember, remember the fifth of November. I like my version better. Today is an important day in American history, and an important day in my own, as today my little one has turned one. My once little burrito baby is now a toddler. Today of all days, I celebrate my son’s birthday while the rest of the country seems to be mourning.

On a day of such sadness, we need to look at the positives. It’s fine to remember the past, but we can’t dwell on it. The best part about living through a tragedy is gaining strength to move on from it. It’s 12 years, and I would like to think we’re better people. We’re not, but I would like to think we are. We’re stronger than we were, if nothing else. Just like the Boston tragedy this year, we learned that when tragedy strikes people join together to help out their fellow-man. It’s after that, the camaraderie fades away and it becomes a dog eat foreigners world. We’ve grown from it, we’ve become more paranoid and we’ve survived.

The last part was the most important of my statement: we’ve survived. We survived 9/11 and we’ve survived the Boston Bombing and the tragedies that followed within days after. We are survivors. We don’t sit around being victims. We stand up and live our lives anyways. What we need to do is to not look at this day as one that may or may not be forgotten; it won’t be forgotten. We need to look at this day as something that happened in our past that made us a nation of strength. We join together today but it’s important that we treat this like our own lives: we accept the past as the past and focus on what we are today. So while there are events all over the television to commemorate today, we should remember that we’re different now. Also, we should point out that remember today doesn’t mean that we need to rewatch the incident repeatedly all day long. Living it once was enough for me.

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All Aboard the Gravy Train

I’m back from my summer vacation, and ready to go. The sun agrees with my hair, giving me nice natural red highlights and reinvigorating my thoughts to get back into things.

Today, I predicted a Republican president will be elected in 2016. I’m on the fence as to whether Senate will fall that way in 2014, but honestly I could see that as a very real scenario. I’m not sure if this prospect scares me or if I’m ok with it in the long run. I suppose that depends on the particular Republican or Republicans that get voted in. But I definitely see it occurring.

With a Republican, the budget might get back on track. Why? One reason is they’ll end this gravy train people are riding on. With outrage growing on all the conservative media about how much welfare fraud that exists, any reasonable person that acknowledges the problem won’t sit back and allow it. Fox News, for instance, should change its slogan from “Fair and Balanced” to “A Hand-up, Not a Hand Out” because they ram that catchphrase down your throat. And you know what? They’re right.

It’s not entirely the fault of the people who take advantage of this system that was put into place to allow people to get help when they work hard and still fall short. The loopholes that exist so people can take advantage of said system because work is “too hard” are to blame and make those people who need the help feel like they are being attacked because they need it, if they’re lucky enough to get the help as is with money being given to the “loopholes” and not the “help outs”. It’s terrible when I wait for a hospital bill that’s probably going to hit me hard, and my first thought is “my husband should quit his job, because we’d be better off that way”. And the real sin of it all? That statement is absolutely true. It’s estimated that in America, 40 states get more than minimum wage in money. In Massachusetts, it’s estimated that a person on welfare makes the equivalent of $14.66 an hour. (In Hawaii, they do much better. They get around $17.55 an hour.)  What’s the incentive to do something with your life if you make nearly double minimum wage to sit around and do nothing for it? I know some people who work hard and get help because going to school and working full-time doesn’t always pay the bills, especially if you only make $8 an hour. This isn’t to take away something that people need, this is to make a realization that something needs to change before everyone decides getting a job isn’t worth it.

That is why a Republican will win. They already care more about business than actual people, so cracking down on broken systems mean nothing to them but cutting the fat like laying off people so they can keep their pockets lined with profits. If that lined pocket is America and is going back into Social Security and Medicare or some other program that there’s a need for,  I can’t say I have too much of a problem with that. The easiest way to do that is to not necessarily raise taxes, just the number of people paying them. And to do that, they need to make getting a job and working hard more profitable to the people than not working.

This scenario isn’t all a peachy one though, as for a group that touts such anger in our civil liberties being stolen from us, they are willing to take the ones they want to take away from us too as we can see most recently in Texas. We can choose guns to kill people with, but abortion is bad because it kills. Pro-life only applies to a fetus, but death penalty for all because we can pick and choose whether we believe only God can decide matters of life and death. People should get married unless you’re gay, in which case there’s a closet waiting for you. Those are the costs people are going to be willing to pay to see real change in the financial direction of America. I don’t understand why we have to make that choice? Can’t we get real reform and the ability to keep people’s private lives private and their own business?

People say this was how Obama “bought” the election,  but I don’t buy it. If people don’t want to interfere their busy days of video games and television to work, do you really think they’re going to remember or even care to go out and vote? He won because people were terrified of losing rights to choose in their private lives and I’m certain that’s absolutely true. I bet we would have lost our private rights while listening to those poor NRA guys complaining about their precious arsenal. Complain about it with an internal ultrasound and see how you feel about your rights. If the Republicans want to win, they have to decide to leave the matters of the bedroom and women’s bodies out of the discussion and stick to the real reform they tell us they want to make. They can fix the budget without trying to reverse Roe vs. Wade or ban marriage equality. Unless they do that, I don’t see how they can win in the future.

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This Week’s Collective Musings.

When all else fails on a day when I can’t think of anything else to post about, I’m glad I can fall back on random thoughts from the week.  So here we are.

  • Anthony Weiner reminds me of Beavis from “Beavis and Butt-head”. I know this is an insult to my beloved 90’s cartoon character but I couldn’t help it. I keep expecting him to come out with his shirt over his head shrieking “Cornholio!” Seriously, look at him, especially from the side. The resemblance is uncanny. Except he gets more from the ladies than Beavis did. But Beavis is far cooler. Beavis for Mayor! Also he’s a politician, not a priest. Have we not learned anything from Clinton? Being a philandering jackass doesn’t mean he’s a terrible politician.
  • Tomorrow is my husband’s birthday.  I considered what to get him, but I decided I already do his laundry, cook for him, and gave him 2 sons so he shouldn’t be greedy.  I kid.  I’ll probably make him his favorite “Reese’s” cake. Maybe, we’ll see how tired I am. If not, I’ll pretend it’s not his birthday. He’s forgetful he might not even remember anyways.
  • Ariel Castro should get shiv’ed in prison for it because as happy as I am those women won’t have to sit through a trial, he is a rabid dog that needs to be put down in the most gruesome manner possible. I don’t think he’ll last long in prison anyways, so he should’ve just taken the death penalty. I have a feeling his roommates might not appreciate the type of person he is

Now, let’s try to post this again with it being the complete post. (Sorry about the mishap earlier.) Have a great weekend and Happy Birthday to the best husband and father in the world. I’ll make sure the baby saves a nice load for you.

 

 

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The “Sorry I’m Late” Edition

Sorry I’m late today. I give myself until 3 to post, otherwise I go into “screw it” mode and get on with my day. I would’ve posted sooner, but I was waiting so anxiously for the name of the new prince as I had money riding on it. I didn’t win the bet, as I was pulling for a Spencer to be somewhere in the child’s names. C’est la vie. On that same note, “take that!” to everyone who gawked at my naming my baby George, I was apparently setting a trend without realizing it and now the most awaited and beloved heir to the throne shares his name. I was just a little ahead of my time. I think George is a name that’s going to make a comeback now, and I’m happy to say “first!”.

It’s an “all apologies” post today. Why do we say sorry? Because we feel bad or are expected to. Is there an expectation for apologies? It is, even if there is no real reason to apologize. I don’t apologize to my husband unless I’ve actually done something wrong, as I don’t think I should just say “sorry” just because. Now, people are probably asking how do I intend to stay married with that attitude? The answers are simple: one, I won’t do anything wrong where I’d have to apologize; and two, because he knew what he was getting into when he married me so if he suddenly doesn’t like it he shouldn’t have said “I do”. (I kid, we rarely fight enough to warrant anyone apologizing.)

With that said, there has been some heated debate on whether the very beloved Coach Belichick should apologize to Patriots fans everywhere and everyone else because he happened to coach a team where an alleged murder played for. Some people think that he should apologize, and I can’t say I’m one of them. He should apologize for being awful with the press, sure. He shouldn’t apologize because Hernandez murdered one or more people. Did Tomlin have to apologize when his quarterback may have sexual assaulted a woman? Did Harbaugh have to apologize when Ray Lewis was involved in a possible murder? Why do they get away with it and Belichick has to bow down and beg for forgiveness. Sure, he may or may not be an ass, but that’s his crime he should apologize for.

I don’t like it when people fake apologies. I think he did the right thing by extending his condolences to the family of the deceased, but he shouldn’t have to go much further than that barring even donations to whatever fund will no doubt be created in Lloyd’s honor. So let Hernandez go to jail for what he did and make him apologize for his sins and make him suffer if he refuses. /endrant

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It’s Coming!

I can hardly contain my excitement: the royal baby is coming! The news makes me so warm and fuzzy on the inside. This was amazing to wake up to.  I couldn’t think of better and more interesting news to see when I first opened up my lovely Firefox window and it was plastered everywhere! It’s not everyday someone gives birth you know, especially not a royal heir to the throne! Get on the celebration throne, kiddos. The Duchess is having, and this is solely my prediction, a royal Highness! Though I’m upset she only traveled to the hospital by car. Someone of this importance should have done something awesome like helicoptering in. That would’ve been awesome.

Over the top with the sarcasm? Probably. The media has been sitting outside of a hospital for weeks now for this event. I’m not sure if that’s great journalism or extreme obsession. I feel sorry for her having to worry about glorified paparazzi sitting outside of her hospital while she’s in labor. Though I stop feeling so bad when I remember that the baby will be born royalty and they are filthy rich.
But you do have to sympathize with her. We all worry about whether we should get an epidural or the breastfeeding debate. She has to worry about it and how the whole world watching will judge her decisions with the same level of critique as they discuss her wardrobe. Even worse, those crazy people who belittle people who dare feed their babies formula will expect her to use this as a platform for their agenda.

I do wish her luck and happiness, as children are always a blessing and she seems to be genuine and down to earth. I just feel bad that she can’t enjoy this moment without having to worry about press releases and over-zealous media hoping for their first shot of her and the baby. I hope that child gets a little more freedom away from cameras than American celebrity babies get. I also hope I can enjoy a “Royalty” free life for at least a little while. There was a reason for the Revolutionary War.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, Our Latest Covergirl!

I never wanted to be a model growing up. I never wanted to be an actress. I didn’t like fields where people would base their opinions on me based on looks or anything physical. My best asset is my wit, at least I think so. I’d rather be the clever girl than the pretty one. Prettiness can fade, but a certain level of cleverness will always be retained. Looks only take you so far; you need something in that little head of yours to really make it in whatever goes you have. Even models need a certain level of intelligence these days to create empires based in their images. You even have to credit Kim Kardashian (as much as we all kinda hate her) because she marketed herself and created this entire empire on nothing but looks and a sex tape.

I buy magazines. I admit a soft spot for Cosmo, because sometimes you need something brainless to sit and read. You learn interesting tidbits that you might get a great use out of in the real world. Like who would’ve known that you can order “roofie tester” coasters for when you go to a bar? I certainly didn’t and I appreciate the fantastic invention. Also it’s great to read those confession stories, because let’s be honest we all enjoy laughing at people. I even find myself seeing a funky make-up idea in there that I end up trying and looking terrible in because I lack any ability to do those girlie things. Sometimes I’ll buy magazines because I see the cover and say “I need that”. Usually I have this urge when it’s Game of Thrones related, and I have a Rolling Stone from over 10 years ago because it had Kurt Cobain on the cover and I do enjoy my Nirvana.

Then I hear about this latest covergirl. Sorry, I meant “coverboy”. Wait, is it “coverman”? I’ve got this: “coverterrorist”! I’d like to thank Rolling Stone for putting that terrorist on its cover. Seriously, it’s not every day you get to have the pleasure of being so disgusted at desperate attempts of stirring up controversy for the sake of sales. Or is it because the magazine is a dying medium and they needed a bump up? How about they make a Osama Bin Laden cover and talk about how he was misunderstood? I’m sure that would be an awesome read. I’m not sure critics are right about how this will validate him as a cult icon of teen angst and that everyone should go make bombs and kill innocent people because they don’t celebrate the same radical ideals as you. I’m absolutely sure that this is in incredibly poor taste. At first I thought they should donate the proceeds from their distasteful magazine to the One Fund. But then I decided that is almost like giving them blood money. No, they should do the world a favor and go with the Patriots model of “swap this magazine for one that is less evil”. Refund people’s money for running such a filthy edition, and reprint the entire thing with Jay-Z or Willie Nelson on the cover.

This is only part of the point. I don’t read Rolling Stone for human interest pieces, or in this case, Terrorist interest pieces. I read them for articles about music. Actually, that’s a lie. I don’t recall the last time I read a Rolling Stone magazine. I don’t even remember reading my decade or so old Kurt Cobain edition. I appreciate people using controversy in their publications. I find controversy to be thought-provoking and allows for a good debate. I think there’s a line you don’t cross though. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I think making victims of this horrible incident stare at one of the people responsible for their pain is completely disrespectful of this tragedy. We don’t want to pity him; we can honestly say we want his blood. You can feature him, but don’t try to make him out to be a misunderstood human being that is a victim of his circumstances. Plenty of people come from crappy circumstances don’t end up to be terrorists. Don’t defend him. We won’t pity him. Or maybe not show him and let him go away in oblivion because he no longer exists and shouldn’t be allowed to think he’s a martyr.

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The Battle of “Shoulds”

I should be taking a nap. That’s the story of the past few days. The baby, still feeling a bit under the weather from the surgery and might be for a few more weeks, hasn’t been sleeping well. I missed Friday’s post for no other reason than “I should be taking a nap”, so I did. Today I realized I wanted to, but I really couldn’t let myself out of my own sense of obligation. The downside of working for money from home is you really sometimes can’t fight the temptation to just sleep instead of doing the work. Most days I fight it, and today I won.

With all this news over the George Zimmerman trial, I can’t help but to think that I should be writing a post about my thoughts on the matter. Since focusing my Hubpage on parenting, the blog is left to fend for itself. Usually I try to write about current events, but sometimes I can’t help but to rant about whatever I feel like ranting about on a given day. I keep fighting this battle of “shoulds”. Like, I should do some dishes and laundry while the baby is sleeping. But I chose the readers instead. Also, I choo chooo choo choose you, George Zimmerman.

One thing that bothers me is that when talking about the trial, you only hear George Zimmerman referred to as “Zimmerman” while Trayvon Martin is referred to by his first and last name. I don’t like uneven-ness. I don’t like the double standard, hell even Ted Bundy gets both his names uttered when being spoken about. And I would rather hang out with George Zimmerman than I would Ted Bundy. That’s a minor pet peeve in the whole scenario. Another thing I would like to point out, at the risk of getting readers mad at me, is that I don’t think that George Zimmerman is a racist. Do I think he’s guilty of trying to play a hero and chased after a guy he profiled as a criminal because of what he looked like? Absolutely. If I were walking down the street wearing a hoodie, I can safely say that I wouldn’t have been pursued as a criminal since my translucently pale skin would glow in the dark, giving away the fact I’m a white girl in a hoodie and we’re innocent and never do anything wrong. This isn’t about racism in America, I would even dare to say that this isn’t even about racial profiling in America. This is about a moron that wanted to be in the newspapers as the hero of the day for solving the slew of petty crime in his neighborhood. Well, at least he got his wish of being in the newspapers.

The issue at hand, unfortunately, isn’t really about someone who looks white killing an African-American child. I say really because it is a tragedy and it should be made to light that a kid died. But let’s blame the real culprit here: the law itself. This law needs to be changed, because who’s the next person that is going to get killed and have someone go “well I was just defending myself, he looked dangerous”? It’s similar to the gun debate: it’s not the guns that kill people, it’s the crazy people who are allowed to carry them that do. This law gives people a blank check to do this and walk away with their hands being clean. Next thing you know, Aaron Hernandez is going to say that “Odin Lloyd was going to kill me so I killed him in Florida and used a private jet to get the body up here. According to Stand Your Ground laws, this is perfectly acceptable!” People should be outraged that this guy got a blank check to kill someone. Maybe he should have stayed in his car. Maybe he should have followed him in his car while waiting for the police to properly handle the situation. Maybe Trayvon Martin shouldn’t have fought George Zimmerman. Maybe we should think for a moment what would happen if Trayvon Martin had killed George Zimmerman and gotten away with it because of this law. Maybe we should think about the outrage that would come out of that: “A black thug killed innocent neighborhood watchman who was trying to protect his community”. Maybe we should consider these points. This… this is the Battle of the “shoulds”.

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And Then Comes Marriage

Rumor has it, the Supreme Court will rule on gay marriage today. I wanted to get ahead of this with a reiteration of my prediction in hopes that I’m correct. This will be a 2 parter, if the decision does come in after I post this for a reaction piece. All eyes of people that care will be watching for this ruling, that either way will upset a mass ton of people.

I believe in people who love each other should be able to get married. Back when marriage was just a conversation between myself and my husband, I didn’t understand why we should get married. What makes me so special that I can marry whomever I want, but other people can’t. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that “I won’t get married until everyone can get married”, because I think that’s a cop-out people use so they don’t have to get married. I didn’t understand why it’s necessary for me to get married. I’ve been married for nearly 2 years, and I still don’t really understand. Nothing has changed between us in our relationship, except that now we’re legally bound together until we pay a large price to divorce and I had to change my last name. (Why is divorce so expensive? Because it’s worth it.) That doesn’t take away from people who idealize a process like marriage as something in their dreams.

417711_10150588848513107_1129203482_nBut on that token, shouldn’t every American be allowed that dream? This picture is hilarious, but it’s true. Last time I spoke about this, I pointed out that just a few decades ago I wouldn’t have been allowed to marry my husband since he isn’t a White male. Now today, it’s essentially the same fight. Legally, what’s the big deal? I accept that people have moral oppositions to this as a result of religious beliefs. But I recall that religion shouldn’t  have a bearing on legal matters. We live in a land of law with religion, not religious law. No one is asking you to get married to a partner of the same gender, we’re simply asking that you leave people’s bedroom alone.

My theory is that the Supreme Court will legalize it, using the grounds of the Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage in 1967 stating that “anti-miscegenation” laws were unconstitutional. Telling someone they couldn’t marry another person was unconstitutional, and marriage is a right we have as humans. I end with this quote on interracial marriage and slyly point out that the justice never specified “man” or “woman” in the decision, he simply said “person”. Granted he was only speaking about race, but I can hope. From Wikipedia:

Chief Justice Earl Warren‘s opinion for the unanimous court held that:

“ Marriage is one of the “basic civil rights of man,” fundamental to our very existence and survival…. To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State’s citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discrimination. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.
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Go Get Your Special Vote On.

Tomorrow in Massachusetts, we have a special election on who to replace the “Turd”. Wait, or was he the “D”? I’m not sure, South Park never really specified so I get confused. Either way, John Kerry has the highly coveted and non-controversial title of “Secretary of State”, leaving us with another special election. Last time this happened, Republican Scott Brown upset the favorite Democrat Martha Coakley. Will there be a repeat upset of Gomez over Markey? The excitement is brewing, I can’t wait to see that hockey game. Wait, I’m confused again. It’s an election, not a sporting event. Or… is it?

I kid. But who do we vote for? I watch the commercials and pegged Markey as an early winner, only based on the fact that the majority of people are easily swayed by television and I’ve only really seen Markey on TV. But his hair bothers me, he reminds me of Donald Trump. I don’t think I want to vote for him because of his hair. Then… then I saw a Gabriel Gomez commercial mocking Markey and I admit I laughed pretty hard at it. After seeing that commercial, the answer seems so simple. Go Gomez!

But seriously, I do go to Wikipedia to spell out the stances people have on issues because no one else seems to want to tell me what’s going on. I know, politicians flip-flop all the time but I want a basis here. So I look at Gomez’s positions, and he seems very similar to Scott Brown. Okay, I voted for Scott Brown so that might not be a bad place to start. Then, I look at Markey. Nothing.  What does he stand for? His ads just tell me he is a guy who’s served in Washington, D.C for way too many years where nothing got done and that Gabriel Gomez is a terrible person by using half soundbites for his purpose. Okay, I’m a Democrat and according to the rules of today I should stand behind Markey because “he’s my peeps”. I’m not sure I can. I’m not sure of anything political really.

So come tomorrow, what do I do? Do I vote for Gomez? Do I vote for Markey? Do I even bother voting and stay home and eat junk food while watching Criminal Minds I have DVR’ed on every channel that plays it? Does it even really matter who I vote for? Which one is less likely to be bought off to the highest bidder? I’m not entirely sure, I might suck it up and vote for Gomez because I like someone who says “just because I don’t believe it in, doesn’t mean it should be illegal”. Maybe I should pass, because who says he’ll keep that stand when actually put into office. What this comes down to is “which one of these people has my interests and the interests of Massachusetts in mind” when we vote tomorrow. Do we give a guy a chance, or do we allow a guy that’s failed us before stay there to fail us? (I’m basing this solely on the fact that neither party has done anything in our benefit.) I’m not sure, but I might say “screw it” and see if some new blood changes things. Then watch him lose re-election because he didn’t vote the way the party wanted him to so no one funded his re-election campaign because heaven forbid someone was actually watching out for the people they promised to help.

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Politics and Hypocrisy: A Joint Proposition?

I can’t understand politicians sometimes. Okay, it’s not just sometimes. Maybe it’s not the politicians’ fault. Maybe the blame falls entirely with the political process and ideals. Are they really flip-floppers or is it just that the stances they stand up for just contradict each other? This isn’t going to be a debate about whether or not certain topics are right or wrong, this isn’t about political parties or propaganda telling you that one set of beliefs are better than another. Everyone has the right to believe in whatever as long as they respect that in you. And having some factual evidence other than “because it’s a Democrat/Republican” view, because that really pisses me off. Nothing is right just because it goes with the party you register for, the whole “Party” system is a sham and shouldn’t exist because people don’t want to educate themselves on issues and not the letter next to a person’s name. (I still stand by what I said at election time too: get rid of the (R/D) next to the person’s name on the ballot and make people either chose on merit, or go in blind and kick themselves for “voting wrong” later. If you can’t be bothered to educate yourself before stepping into that poll box, you had it coming. This also isn’t a Sarah Palin bashing post, she just happens to be the example I used because I saw her in the news over the weekend give a speech.

Back to the main point. Over the weekend, they gave a snippet of her speech saying “the government is getting way too big and intruding into parts of our lives they shouldn’t be. I agree, the government is involved in our lives more than it should be. Turns out, that’s all we agree on. (I’ll get to that in a minute.) Who decides what line is “too intrusive”? What we eat? Who we love? What control do we have over our bodies and which does the government have right to? It’s all a bit confusing.

She believes abortion and gay marriage should not be legal. Wouldn’t those be intrusive and personal decisions that the government is overreaching into? What makes those intrusions less important than Mayor Bloomberg say, banning a Big Gulp? What’s that line? Because you can’t have it both ways. There’s no harm in letting people marry the person they love. And abortion is wrong because you’re playing God and murdering a living being? Then why is the death penalty acceptable? You’re playing God with that living being.

The moral of the story is political positions lack complete logical thought to me. Maybe it’s just me and I don’t fully understand the positions these political parties take. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and consider that I’m missing an important link here. But I think that the problem with politics is that these contradictory ideals makes them seem hypocritical.