Downtown - Autumn AM

As I rode into work this morning, via the Riverwalk, as I do each day of the week, I had to stop a few times just to take in the view. While we all get frustrated with those in power for their inaction and sometimes seemingly outright raping of The Core, we need to stop and realize that we have a gorgeous city here sitting along the St. Johns River. So here are a couple shots of what my morning commute looks like these days. With views like this, a city like this, we really need to step up and make the most of what we've been entrusted with. Shouting at the rain is no longer going to cut it. Words now need to be followed by action. I'm not entirely sure what that "action" needs to be just yet, but I know that there are enough of us out there of the same mind that change can be affected in our city. It's time for our generation to take a greater responsibility for the future of Jacksonville.

Politicians and Politics

I think this image just about sums it up, don't you?
So, who's following the race these days? It seems you can't turn on the tv or the radio without hearing something about one of the candidates and their running mates. Personally I hate politics and I think politicians should be fired from government and made to actually work for a living. But, I understand that we live in a society that needs laws, boundaries, safeguards and rules in order to properly function in at least somewhat of a dignified way. Without these elements in place our society would crumble in a matter of minutes, so a necessary, if unpleasant, evil.
But what I'll never understand is how political campaigns have been reduced to name calling and backbiting. I mean, these are grown men and women who are, theoretically, running to be our representatives, to be our "man on the hill", our "go to" guy/girl, whatever. So, who cares if they slept with an aid, or an intern, or even a freakin goat! I could care less about your sexual resume. I could care less about most of the crap that gets thrown out over the air waves these days, because almost none of it has anything to do with finding solutions for the problems that this country is facing. Things like unemployment, taxes, welfare, abortion, adoption, national debt, war, national security and education are barely mentioned througout the course of your average politcal debate. And if they are mentioned it's only one pointing out what the other has NOT done to rectify whatever issue it is. Who cares what you haven't done in the past. What ARE you going to do today? Tomorrow? Over the next four years? When are we going to have a candidate step up who will hold themselves accountable for the people? I think we've had some who have made a valiant go of it, but in the end political maneuvering overrules what is good for the country and for the people at large.
It's a sad day when you can't trust ANYONE in your governing body because they're all on the take, they're all out to get whatever they can for themselves and stay in office for as long as they can without doing much of anything. It is a sad day.

Idiots

People are idiots.
I have noticed, frighteningly, that the vast majority of people do not pay attention to their surroundings AT ALL. This should come as no surprise when you listen to the news in the morning and get the traffic update for Jacksonville: crash on this road, crash on that road, crash over here, someone going to the hospital over there. It's insane!!! PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE! I ride a bike to work. I take the Riverwalk. It is a wonderful ride in the mornings, so peaceful and calm. Accept for the idiot people walking WHO ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION! It's a good thing that I pay attention to my surroundings otherwise I'd be running these people down left and right.
It gets me to wondering if most people are just that self absorbed and self obsessed that they have no concern whatsoever for anything else going on outside of their own personal bubble. Ugh. It's so frustrating. Why can't they wake up!? Maybe I ask too much. Perhaps my standards are too high. It could be, even, that I am a minority in a world that does not want, and cares not, to change! Especially with such an important election coming up in the next couple of weeks, one would think that we could all take a step outside of ourselves, look around, and take note of what is going on around us. Again, perhaps this is too much to ask. Perhaps "people", the majority, simply can not handle such vast responsibility as this. It could be too much for their delicate sensibilities, their fragile constitutions. But I digress.

Ciao.

The Dark Side

Anyone who knows me knows that I am, and always have been, a liberal. Not always in the political sense, but definitely in my values. Politically I try to go with the candidate that is the least full of shit. That obviously is a little difficult in today's political arena. However, lately I have been spending a lot of time listening to talk radio on both sides of the spectrum, getting both points of view, and trying to weed out the bullshit. And one thing that I have come to know for sure is the Obama is not the least interested in what is right and just for this country. He is interested in doing whatever it takes to get elected as the first black president and get his name in the history books. Well, I don't give two shits if you're black, white, blue, purple or green. If you want to be a leader for this country you have to be willing to put politics aside and do what is right for the future of this country and the future of our children. So far, McCain has done that. He postponed his campaign in order to go back to D.C. to debate this so called "bail-out" plan and try to get to the right solution for our country. Not a political move, though everyone turned it into one, but the right move for the U.S. Obama on the other hand, had to be ORDERED by our president to bring his ass back to D.C. to vote on this measure. What kind of message does that send when your campaign is more important than the current crisis of our country? It sends the clear message that he cares nothing for what is right, only what gets him elected.
I am not a republican, I'm not even a conservative (though my wife may disagree). I am a liberal, but I tell you, there is not one chance in hell that I would vote for Obama as the next president of our country. We need leaders with the knowledge, fortitude, humility and patience to do what is right and take this country out of the pit of dispair that we find ourselves in right now. So, as of today, I cast my vote for John McCain. Not because he's the lesser of two evils, not because I just don't want Obama in office, but because over the last two weeks I have seen in both the liberal and conservative press/media that he has the best interests of this country at heart. I was wrong about Bush in 2000 when I voted him into office. I hope this time I'm right. The next 4 years will tell the tale.
I would ask anyone who reads this to do the same as I have done. Don't vote your party. Party politics are just that, Politics. Politics has nothing to do with what is right for the future of our country. Far too often we vote the party line because we don't want this or that in office. Well, at some point it has to be about what is truly right and just, not party. We have real problems that need real solutions, and the guy who is just totting the party line is not going to deliver what we need. Look at the issues, watch the debates, find out their voting records, see where they really stand and vote accordingly.