so at dinner last night with my fav american couple S. and B., i became aware, once again, that i not only LOVE talking about the differences between canada and the u.s. but that i also have no idea what is going on electorally over there. and for this, sweet baby jesus, i am proud. i mean, maybe it's the profound and crushing disappointment that i felt when bush was re-elected, or the fact that i feel like if i don't now what is going on here, then why should i know what is going on there, or maybe, just maybe, it is that i am lazy. nevertheless. i can't handle any more talk about obama and hillary (please note that people ALWAYS refer to them like this. even though it reflect the sexist use of language as a symbolic representation, that is, calling her "hillary" devalues her authority which is given to men through the use of their surnames). anyhoo. i am having a wtf moment and thought i'd share. i mean, i should care, shouldn't i? does this make me a bad person? or does this make me similar to (some? most? all?) americans in that i have no idea what the f*ck is going on in the political universe (other than, tangentially, my own). oh, and i know that this is a generalization of americans that is inaccurate, all-encompassing, and ignorant. i will not, however, retract it. so there.
here are a couple of reasons i have compiled about why i don't give a sh*t about american politics or the players in it. (where is this ranty rage coming from you ask? the rain, okay? and the fact that i recently watched the documentary outfoxed. and i'm all fired up about nothing. it happens. for reals). okay, so back to the list:
1) it kills me a little inside how people have tried to construct the democratic race as if it is about gender (by which they mean sex) or race. i mean, i know that it is going to get spun that way inevitably, but it just points to how ANYONE, other than a middle-aged, white male (and/or any member of the bush family), is not seen as a valid candidate for the highest office in the united states. this is obscene. what is more obscene is that people argue that feminism is dead, or should die a quiet death, because all kinds of equality have been achieved. really? i didn't get that memo.
2) do i really like/trust hillary clinton? i mean, her presidency would mean that in the last 16 or so years, two families, and two families alone, have held the title president of the united states. isn't that messed up? i mean, how does that happen? huh?
3) i am a little afraid that oprah will in fact be the vice president after something mysteriously befalls whomever his vice president will be. it would be a coincidence in line with point #2. that is to say, not a coincidence. at all.
4) why are all politicians in the united states elevated to the status of celebrity? can't they just be boring politicians that no one knows anything about as they are in canada? i know that macleans is trying to get people to care about the private lives and goings on of canadian politicans on that kinda "social" mp section but i am quite sure that everyone does as i do and completely. skips. that. page. because, seriously who cares what the mp from some 40-person riding in winnipeg does with her time off? hmmm?
5) everything gets soooooooooo blown out of proportion. like michelle obama saying that she is proud of her country for the first time. or clinton (ya see that?) crying. all has to be dissected. analyzed. spun. and it all detracts from what they are saying. like the fact that they want to exit nafta if they don't get what they want. i'm not saying nafta is a good thing. alls i'm sayin' is why don't we look at what this means. not whose hair is fabulous and whose sweater is frumpy. again, amercians can learn something from the frumpy unfabulousness of canadian politicians. i'm just saying.
6) is it spring yet? i want more flower blossoms and sun. and less american politics.
pleeeze.
3 comments:
American politics affects us all! And frankly, I don't care either. Call it overload, or maybe it's the focus on the trivial which blinds me to any of the important stuff. Is there any important stuff? Either way, wake me up when the election is over. ;)
You know, after years of indifference to American politics, I've been following the race quite closely. Maybe it's because I've spent the last year abroad, but I'm excited by the prospect of a woman or African-American in the White House. It's pretty sad that it's taken this long, but in order for it to become commonplace, there has to be a first time.
I blanche at the whole 'Hillary' thing too. I take special care to always write 'Senators Clinton and Obama'.
I've often been frustrated by our Canadian politicians. They are boring. As with all celebrity, I don't want to read about their private lives, but I do wish that they'd be a livelier, more dynamic bunch. We seem to elect custodians to high office, when we should (at least occasionally) be electing visionaries.
@shells - thanks shells bells for the "down with the amercians!" support. we can soon go live in a cave together with our laptops and only communicate by way of msn and ignore the rest of the nasty world! oh wait. we already do that 'cept without explicitly calling our apartments "caves." ah, grad school. all insular and soul-crushing. ;)
@darren - hi darren! thanks for the comment even though you have shamed me into a semi-retraction. you make eloquent and inspiring comments, especially with regard to the inaugural position resulting in what we can only hope will become the all too common. i will not, however, tolerate the idea of exciting canadian politicans. we have a solid reputation as boring, insecure, simple-minded folk that live in igloos going on here, why do you want to screw with that? hmmm? we wouldn't want to shake up the status quo and vote for anything other than conservative or liberal would we? that is encouraging anarchy and it feeds macleans' desire to make canadian politics sexy. and dammit darren - i just won't stand for it.
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