Why is so much of America Politically Constipated?

Too many people just "don't give a shit" about politics. Some of it's complacency, some of it's apathy, but I maintain that, for a lot of folks, it's simply disgust.

"Politicians lie to get elected." How many of us have heard this gem before? I daresay most of us. And, yes, some do. Some will say anything to please anyone who's listening. Others, on the other hand, make the effort to play it straight. "I can't promise anything, but this is what I'll fight for."

Too many people see politics as being something not connected to their lives. This is foolish, because what happens in politics can affect the very quality of one's day to day life. Wages, benefits, taxation, transportation, education, the quality of our food, air, and water, and SO many other things hinge upon electing the right people to office--or, at the minimum, electing the people who understand the questions.

"I don't do politics," some will say.

I usually smile and say "That's okay. Politics will DO you."

We see echoes reaching back several years. As one example, take the 2000 election. "No difference between Bush and Gore," we heard people say.

"Oh, bullshit."

I had my issues with Gore at the time. One of them was his running mate. Another was how far he went to distance himself from Clinton. Despite Clinton's foibles (and, man, does he have foibles), he was a fairly competent leader who gained the respect of the world. Sometimes we're too culture-centric for our own good.

If Gore had've wanted to distance himself from Clinton, he should've taken a more progressive stance from the get-go. It may not have helped, considering how the cards were stacked, but I don't think it's EVER bad to have the news repeating progressive ideas, no matter how much they hate doing it.

Personal communication with the uninvolved and undecided is the best sort of political laxative. Making people understand that it DOES matter. It's not always successful, but unless we do something to bring the "apathetic" into the fold, all we're doing is preaching to the choir or lobbying potshots at the enemy.

Not everyone has to be a political junkie. But if one doesn't pay attention, the next thing one knows is that a new roadblock or annoyance pops up and one ends up looking around stupidly, saying "hey, when did THAT happen?"

And if one truly doesn't care what goes on in politics, one is an idiot.

everyday it just keeps getting worse. In order to continue functioning I have to forget it is out there. Otherwise, I couldn't get out of bed.

Constantly being pissed off really sucks.

"I don't do politics." I always thought that odd: politics affects our lives so much and many people just blow it off like it's merely a hobby.

We KNOW politics "does" us, but even those of us who try to do politics have pretty much hit the wall at this point.

This thread has 4, now 5 comments. Go to ESPN.com, there is a story about a football player that was shot and died this morning. It has over 3400 comments, what does that say about where peoples heads are at?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3129406&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines