The Politics of Fish

I hate politics. I always have. I've never liked the idea that you're constantly fighting against a lot of people who ostensibly have the best interests of the people whom they represent at heart, when they're usually really just doing the same self-serving crap. They're more focused on being re-elected than on doing the right thing. They're more focused on making sure the large companies that have given them lots of money are appeased than that the people they represent get the best thing for them, or that the country gets the best thing for them. I hate how during the last eight months of campaigns all you see is "Campaigner X eats babies and will detonate key parts of the country if elected! Paid for by Friends of Campaigner Y." I hate how politics has stopped being about the people, and has become about the politicians. Maybe it's always been that way, and I have a distorted view of what life was like 100 years before I was born.

So anyway, it takes me quite a while to get to where I am now, because, as I've said, I hate politics. But our current administration infuriates me. Not so much for the war, as what was sacrificed in stability has given the people there some hope of freedom. Eventually. My biggest beef is with Bush's stance on science and the environment. At our present rate of global warming, it's entirely likely that we are looking at extinction of half of the species on the planet within 50 years. This is not alarmist talk, this is a fairly strong possibility. Except that the Bush administration will not acknowledge that global warming exists. And yes, Bush has taken some token steps toward the environment, but they're too few and too far off, and frankly, too stupid (if you want an explanation, ask). George Deutsch had also been appointed to NASA by the White House, seemingly for the express purpose of blocking science. He is no longer there, but for a time, he was effectively rewriting their website. I could go on, but won't. My point is, that the Bush administration is aggressively anti-science, and pretty heavily anti-environmentalist. And this is coming from someone who really doesn't care about politics.

But what I've started thinking, is what my stances would be if I ever ran of office. How would I run a campaign? What would my official stance on the war be? Abortion? The environment? The economy? I never thought politics could save this country, and I'm still not a big proponent of a political solution to all our struggles, but at least I'm clearer on a lot of issues. And maybe, in 20 years or so...