WARNING: Political Crap--Just Skip Over This One

I watch "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" almost every day. I find him highly entertaining. Also, it sorta, kinda keeps me up to date with current events. Kinda.
Okay, not really.
"No! No! No!...Yes, yes. A bit, a bit."
I watch him because he makes me laugh so freely. He seems truly comfortable with the insane person he is. He is also widely accepted and admired in society. Gives me hope for myself.
If you’ve never watched him, you might want to try it some time.
Then again, you might not think he’s funny. He certainly says and does things occasionally that I don’t find funny. Funny is really relative, too. Eh. I recommend him :)

Except for the other day...This Craig Ferguson man, he said something on his show that’s been bugging me. He declared that it was un-American to not vote, and that if you didn’t vote, you had no business discussing politics.
Okay, Craigy. Listen here. I’ve never voted. Granted, I’ve never been of legal age to do so. But I will be in this upcoming election. Although I’m registered to vote, I don’t plan on voting. My vote is pointless because of the two-party system, and the Electoral College.
I actually wrote a paper about the Electoral College back in November for my English class. If you’re not interested, just scroll down. It's boring. But it does explain why I don't believe in the individual vote. I think it's justification enough for not wishing to vote.

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“Does My Vote Even Matter?”: A Debate on the Electoral College (10/27/07)
People of our nation have recently assailed the Electoral College with criticism. Whether it diminishes the individual vote and puts too much emphasis on the swing states or not, the current method of the College has enough defects to merit reformation. While the Electoral College is necessary to put a check on majority rule, in its current form it incorrectly represents the views of the American people. Though some argue that the Electoral College should be abolished altogether and that presidential elections should rely solely on popular vote, a proportional vote rather than the current winner-take-all method would maintain separation of powers and checks on the majority while providing the individual vote with appropriate weight.
On one hand, many argue that eradicating the Electoral College would promote democracy and take disproportionate power away from the swing states. Those who are against the current system argue that the Electoral College diminishes the vote of the average American. If it were abolished, the rightful politician—one elected by popular vote—would take office. Instead of all the campaigning and focus of interests being wholly centered upon the swing states, election by popular vote would equalize the political power of the individual vote regardless of state citizenship.
While these are valid points, there are still major flaws in trusting the appointment of the president of the United States to majority rule. By taking the power away from the states, the balance of powers that our nation relies upon for stability would be corrupted. Collective thinking and the roar of the populous would silence the voice of the minorities and smaller states. Our nation would centralize into a massive government where the concerns of the minorities would not be heard over the majority. Rather than heightening democracy and giving value to the individual vote, this would lead to a polarizing of political power and representation, where the concerns of the majority would overshadow all else.
The proposition of proportional vote would solve these problems by limiting the majority and bringing more weight to the vote of each citizen. Democracy would strengthen because each vote cast in the Electoral College would count independently towards the candidate rather than all of the states’ Electoral votes going to the winner of the plurality. The importance of each state would once again return. Rather than a Democrat avoiding campaigning and caring for the Texan voters because of the certainty that the Republican candidate would win the state, the Democrat could benefit from the voice and vote of the small collection of Democratic Texans. The concerns of the minority would be considered instead of ignored simply because the method of voting made the entire state solely Republican.
Unfortunately, this concept of proportional vote would be nearly impossible to implement because the Constitution gives the states the power of determining and altering the purpose of the electors. Many states would lose their influence and power within the Electoral College by allowing the proportional vote, and would therefore never agree to it. One suggestion is for the legislative branch of the federal government to intercede and write legislation that would bind all the states to this method. This act of Congress, however, would take too much power away from the state governments. Rather, each of the states would need to take the initiative to change for the good of the nation instead of dwelling on how their own authority might diminish. However, this would require states with contrasting interests to sacrifice certain advantages to one another, an act so selfless that it will never be accomplished, especially on such a grand scale. In order for this to be accomplished the people of the United States must use the power and rights that they have been endowed with to petition to their respective states to make this change. Through earnest and catching effort the American people can make their democracy truer to the people as a whole, and benefit their nation.
Regardless of practical impossibilities, this change in the Electoral College is necessary in order for our nation to overcome the injustice and misrepresentation of the current system. The College must be altered to provide the individual vote the power it needs to be properly representative of our democracy. Without this revision, or without the College altogether, America cannot rightly claim to be a nation founded on freedom and equality.
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This next bit is from a 20-minute freewrite I did for that same English class. The topic was Barack Obama. (9/26/07)

“Thinking about politics and politicians makes me hate America. Scratch that: it makes me hate humanity. I feel only frustration and anger towards politics most days. And the media. I hate the media in general. What a horribly polluted, twisted, contorted, perverted medium. We have so much at our access in America, and almost everything comes to us through this horrible filter, all junked with prejudice and bias and corruption. Ah!
Anyway. Barack Obama. He’s a good example of this. Haha, his name is all underlined in red. I love it. I love that it isn’t recognized by Microsoft. I hope more things extend beyond the reach of Microsoft. Haha, Bill! Take that!
So. “Obama ’08! Hell yes!” ...Or is it, "NObama '08"?!
Do you know what I’ve heard about him from the media? Retardedness. That’s right—retardedness! It’s a word NOW Microsoft, so TAKE IT! Agh! Heh.
Hey, what the--!? "Heh" isn’t a word?! It so is Bill!… it so is.
Yeah, Barack smoked marijuana. That’s what I know. He did crack. Woopdeedoo! He did crack in college. I don’t know why people give a damn. And I don’t know why people are making a big deal about not giving a damn. Why do I not know where he stands on abortion? How come I don’t know if he cheats in poker? Does manipulation come naturally to him? Is he good to his family? Is he polite to strangers? Well, I’m sure he is now, since there’s always a camera or a reporter, but does he actually mean it in his heart when he smiles? Does he have to practice? Does he plan on continuing this reckless killing of Iraqi civilians? Wasting away our natural resources? Continuing our dependence on foreign oil? Is he willing to put away stupid American pride? Does he want to downsize the glutton that is our society? Is he willing to put his heart into America until it is twisted and torn by the disgusting realities that we as a whole ignore, or are so immune to because of the crass media?
Not that I know much about politics. I usually prefer ignorance because most of it disgusts me so much, but that ignorance is just as stupid as… oh, I dunno what it’s as stupid as. It’s stupid and irresponsible. But I do know that hiding my head and turning away my eyes and plugging up my ears only makes America worse that it already is. What have I to hide from? Is it simply the foul state of things? Is it the lies and the hatred and the ignorance and the warring and sickness and greed that bothers me so much? Is it because those Democrat Congressmen and Republican Congressmen quarrel and throw immature words at one another and hate each other so innately that makes me want to vomit all over America?
Obama. What could he possibly accomplish becoming president? One man really can’t make that sort of difference, be it president of America, or a homeless girl in India. I dunno where India came from. That’s pretty random. I don’t know much about India.
But seriously. Even if Obama had all the right ideas about the environment and energy conservation and foreign relations and stem cell research and gay rights and capital punishment, he would never be able to bring these labors to fruition, would he? There are so many things to fight through in the US government, and so many other people to influence him, and there’s Congress and everyone else—agh, you know, judicial, executive, bureaucratic. And the damn media!
What does me worrying about these issues accomplish? Rizor used to try and convince me of how important it was for young, intelligent people to care about these problems. I have trouble believing that I am one of those intelligent people, let alone believing that I even have a voice. I know, I know, I have freedom of speech, but do I really? I can pretty much say what I wish, but other people are free to misrepresent those things, or shoot me because of it. They can use all the corruptive tools they’ve honed to utterly obliterate people’s perceptions, and they can just ignore my words all together. We claim that we are all about freedom and equality, but where is the equality when so many voices are silenced? Or go unheard because of age, race, religion, socioeconomic class, occupation, location? When ideas are quelled before they even reach the lips—! I have no idea how this is an argument about Barack Obama.
Obama. I think if I vote, I might just go for him. I don’t want him to be president, but look at the bloody options!!! And when people ask why I’m voting for him, I’m gonna respond with “He did crack.” That’s what I know. Obama did crack. Do I do crack? Am I crack-head? Am I druggy? Do I support illegal drug use? Well, none of that matters.
Should I be fitting into some stereo-type? Ah shoot, aren’t I supposed to be a Republican? I am Mormon. Wait, no, I’m not Mormon. Mormon is a dead prophet. That’s a ridiculous thing to say. But I don’t do drugs. Ooo, bad bad--Drugs?! No, never. Seriously, though. Labels aside, I know wrong from right. I don't support illegal drug use. But I’m voting for a guy that did crack in college...?
Yeah, maybe. I think I agree with his views on alternate energy and ending wars and giving people health care and letting those poor, twisted gay people do what they want cause they really aren’t hurting anyone. They really do tend to be good, good people in their hearts, just confused. But no, they shouldn’t be free. They’re different! Oh, hell no! Different!? Shoot ‘em up! Right?
Unpatriotic? Yeah, I guess I am. Why? I won’t push this off on anyone else. I may be young and easily influenced and corrupted and ignorant, but I’m taking full responsibility for this one. I kinda do hate America, and I really love America, and America makes me shout “Hallelujah!” and vomit and cry and want to defend her and want to slap her in the face and pull her hair and praise God every day for her. I’m just so disappointed in what her people have made her. She doesn’t feel much like a great nation right now. I think mostly because she isn’t reaching the potential that I know she can, that she should! She’s falling short, and it burns and tears my soul up when I think about it."

Sorry 'bout that. I just needed to vent a little. Or...a lot. I feel better getting it out here in cyber realm. Somehow, it makes more sense out here, than in my head/laptop. Wooooo.
No more of these ugly posts, alright? Alright! Good.
Again, I apologize. Come another time, won't you?