all the people that i've talked to about the current state of our country seem to agree that we have a huge mess, but there seems to be much disagreement on where to point fingers of blame. i think lots of smoke and mirrors and slanted media presentations have created pretty hefty divides on who or what is to blame, and i hope for 2012 to be a year of clearing things up.
throughout my life, i've often thought of myself as a liberal. i've tended towards democratic candidates more than republican. i proudly voted for president obama in 2008, and i was inspired and deeply hopeful that he would lead us to unity and needed change.
inspired by our new president and the big issue on the table, healthcare, i decided to really engage and try to understand, beyond red and blue. but as i researched the different sides of the issue, i found that my political identity wasn't so easy to nail down. i found that views i initially rejected were ones that deeply resonated, once i understood.
i felt overwhelmed by the divisions in our country, and i felt disappointed in our leader that seemed to feed, instead of bridge, the divides.
so now, i feel somewhat disillusioned. change didn't come as i had hoped in 2008, but i'm still thirsty for it. i realize that i was fooling myself to believe that one person can deliver change, and since then i have come to believe that the real place to make change is in the process of engagement.
i've decided to be more open to other points of view, and this openness has led me to register as a republican. i want to participate in the primaries because the candidates in 2012 will have a lot to do with the political conversation that will come. i want the opportunity to be a part of creating that conversation, and i hope for a candidate that contrasts president obama in useful ways to really highlight the choices that we must make about our country's direction.
the candidate that has my attention (although not so much media attention) is former new mexico governor, gary johnson. he strikes me as bringing some interesting contrasts through his libertarian views. what appeals to me is his feel of authenticity and his very consistent stance on small government - keep government out of both our wallets and our personal lives. and a president that has climbed everest doesn't seem like a bad thing to me either.
one issue that has a lot of people saying that gary johnson can't get the nomination is his stance on the decriminalization of marijuana and on treating drug use as a health issue when there is no other crime (like driving under the influence, theft, etc.). to me, his position makes sense not only fiscally, but also from a criminal justice perspective. don't messes like this point to the need to shift our drug policy?
gary johnson is a name that seems suppressed by the liberal media, and i believe it points out how the information we get, whether from cnn or from fox, is laced with all sorts of agendas, opinions, and propaganda. the media decides what to make us look at, and the media decides what to make us ignore. but, my hope is that we take back our power and decide the things that matter most for ourselves. all the ways we can exchange info on the internet connect us so much more than early americans, yet, the crucial and necessary element for a healthy democracy, civil discourse, seems alarmingly absent in modern america.
so, here's my humble attempt to overpower what feels to me like an incomplete picture. to me, that is the potential that this upcoming election has to offer - open political conversations about the direction that we truly want for our country. no matter the outcome of the election, depending on how we engage in the process, i so truly believe we can come out of it a stronger and more unified nation.
