It is one of life's inevitabilities that any time I go bowling, I will drop the ball at least once. So, last time I went, to make up for the fact that I haven't bowled in about six months, I dropped it twice.
I discovered something sort of frightening about myself today. A colleague and I were arguing about politics (well, I say arguing - Stephane Dion came on the news while we were eating lunch and we started sort of half-heartedly bitching), and I realised that I care far more about the new World of Warcraft expansion than I do about the upcoming election.
I'm not entirely sure that's a bad thing, either.
The half-hearted bitching was prompted by what my colleague describes as Dion's complete inability to sell himself or his platform. The former does not bother him, but the latter is apparently a sin right up on the list with murder if you're a politician. He absolutely despises Dion on the basis of this alone.
I, on the other hand, distrust politicians. I really distrust charismatic politicians. And being a relatively intelligent and competent person who is completely incapable of appearing so when given an audience of more than three people, I completely sympathise with Dion.
I think I've wandered a little from my point here.
Anyways, politics and particularly election campaigning are subjects I've always found wearying rather than entertaining. I never listen to politicians speak, I never watch the news reports. I do vote though, I just base my choices on gut feelings and written platforms (Jack Layton - used car salesman. No vote. Stephen Harper - no firm policy on same-sex marriage. No vote.) I think it's become too much of a circus, and 99 times out of 100 everything that comes out of a politician's mouth is bullshit, be it about himself, his party, or his opponent. Stephane Dion is the first candidate since Trudeau who's actually given me the impression that his first priority is really the country, rather than the reputations of himself and his party (and since Trudeau has not held office since I was 2 years old, this is kind of pathetic). I'd vote for that over Harper trying to rewrite the rules of parliament any day.
If I ever do start watching all of the hullaballoo associated with elections, I swear every candidate who runs a mudslinging advert automatically loses my vote. In a really extreme year I might end up throwing in with those guys over at the Edible Ballot society
I discovered something sort of frightening about myself today. A colleague and I were arguing about politics (well, I say arguing - Stephane Dion came on the news while we were eating lunch and we started sort of half-heartedly bitching), and I realised that I care far more about the new World of Warcraft expansion than I do about the upcoming election.
I'm not entirely sure that's a bad thing, either.
The half-hearted bitching was prompted by what my colleague describes as Dion's complete inability to sell himself or his platform. The former does not bother him, but the latter is apparently a sin right up on the list with murder if you're a politician. He absolutely despises Dion on the basis of this alone.
I, on the other hand, distrust politicians. I really distrust charismatic politicians. And being a relatively intelligent and competent person who is completely incapable of appearing so when given an audience of more than three people, I completely sympathise with Dion.
I think I've wandered a little from my point here.
Anyways, politics and particularly election campaigning are subjects I've always found wearying rather than entertaining. I never listen to politicians speak, I never watch the news reports. I do vote though, I just base my choices on gut feelings and written platforms (Jack Layton - used car salesman. No vote. Stephen Harper - no firm policy on same-sex marriage. No vote.) I think it's become too much of a circus, and 99 times out of 100 everything that comes out of a politician's mouth is bullshit, be it about himself, his party, or his opponent. Stephane Dion is the first candidate since Trudeau who's actually given me the impression that his first priority is really the country, rather than the reputations of himself and his party (and since Trudeau has not held office since I was 2 years old, this is kind of pathetic). I'd vote for that over Harper trying to rewrite the rules of parliament any day.
If I ever do start watching all of the hullaballoo associated with elections, I swear every candidate who runs a mudslinging advert automatically loses my vote. In a really extreme year I might end up throwing in with those guys over at the Edible Ballot society
