Other than watching the Daily Show (*gasp* Yes, I’m one of those). I ignore political discussions, watch no pundits and only accidentally watch the debates. As in, I randomly discover it’s on and watch from then on. I refuse to commit to memory anyone else’s political opinions other than my own and the candidates. And even then I prefer text to speech. Many of our former presidents, not presiding during times of gluttonous portable device ownership, when it was only their printed words, and not their personality, voice, humanizing speech imperfections or knowledge if they ever used illegal drugs.
The reason? Politicians disgust me, almost to a one. I rely on research online (done for my by Chooch this year – long story) and limit hearing the politicians and their rehearsed answers, although I do like to watch at least one debate to get a sense of each of them on a personal level – how do they handle themselves with each other and the moderator? Do they take potshots at the other opponent instead of answering a direct question? That sort of thing. I feel the debates are good. They will either reinforce your decision or decide it. It’s a disgusting display of ego, but a necessary part of our available input – how will the candidate handle himself when dealing with other countries, under the scrutiny of those that elect you.
Whichever issues are most important to you should matter in the voting booth. Forget the archaic political system handed down to us by our parents, part of which required we label ourselves, Democrat, Republican, Independent (Response is typically a puppy dog head tilt.), Conservative, Liberal or Unicornian (Puppy dog head tilts measure far lower than for Independents).
In my opinion, issues must drive elections, hopefully more so than outdated and eternally shifting labels. Look at your life. Are you poor? Then general belief is that voting Republican could keep you poor. Martian? Then you should likely be down on the side of those in support of marriage equality. Admittedly, the debate now concerns same sex unions, but breaking down that barrier will mean that Martian/Earthling legally recognized unions are more likely.
(Note: Feel free to argue my fictional examples. Like my main point, most debate is moot. You are not likely to change my mind, and vice versa.)
So you’ve heard my rant, refusing to join in debates and back away slowly, and it’s likely not for the first time. This is already more than I like to say on the subject. And don’t worry, I’m already regretting it.
With all of this disgust, boredom, disdain and love for our challenging political system, color me surprised when I actually came across a political message I can not only get behind — it had me cheering and rewinding immediately.
Thanks to the insistence of our sons Naughty Bear and LT, Chooch and I have gotten heavily into Adventure Time, on Cartoon Network. It’s a favorite go-to show for us, and I get the jones for it daily. The simplicity and inherent truth in the relationship between twelve year old Finn and 4 year old Jake, his yellow dog rock my world.
This is where I found the one Political Rap to rule them all, performed by Jake (beatbox) and Finn (lyricist).
(Note: Apologies for not posting with video or audio, but I can’t find a sanctioned site and am sick of dealing with old broken links, let alone posting future ones. Trust me, it is far more awesome in Jake’s voice. Google it for the freshest video link.)
Lyrics
Yeah,
ugh,
political rap.
Yo yo,
demon apathy,
yo zappity.
Get ready.
Government,
where you went?
Yo, farmer’s market.
Ride bikes.
Get on it.
Geodesic domes,
science.
You heard?