I can’t say I’ve been looking forward to this day but after all the ads on TV and rhetoric on Facebook and among friends, this election cannot be over soon enough. After being through several elections in which I’ve participated (I think three including today), I admire the fact that we can still have a say in our leadership regardless of how awful all the political parties and candidates really are. But during election season I’m always reminded of George Carlin. One of my favorite quotes of Carlin still resonates with me today:
“Now, there’s one thing you might have noticed I don’t complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don’t fall out of the sky. They don’t pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It’s what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out. If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you’re going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain’t going to do any good; you’re just going to end up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it’s not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here… like, the public. Yeah, the public sucks. There’s a nice campaign slogan for somebody: ‘The Public Sucks. Fuck Hope.”
I miss George.
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