loyd.net

...and I don't mean keeping up with maintenance on my beloved Honda Civic.  I voted Saturday.  I'm incredibly cynical about the whole political process.  I used to respect McCain before he got his party's nomination and started pandering and waffling, and I had such high hopes for Obama before he got his party's nomination and started pandering and waffling.  But it's the local races that really drive me nuts.  At least on the national scene you can read position papers from the candidates and get a wide variety of opinions from the media.  For our hotly contested local races it is hard to get in depth info, and because it is so personal there are no unbiased opinions or reporting.  Whether local, regional, or national, I don't trust anything the candidates say, since they tell us what they think we want to hear then do whatever gets them money or votes.  So, on a chill and overcast Saturday morning, I held my nose and voted for (or, more accurately, voted against) a slate of candidates.  Ugh.  I just hope I picked the right people, and that the ones who win don't screw up too badly.  But most office holders in the past have been either ineffective or have caused damage, so if we survived them I guess we can survive the newest crop.

I guess part of the reason I'm so cynical about politics is that the first time I remember anything specific about the president was when Nixon resigned.  My mom told me that this was an important, historical event that I should remember, so I did.  Even earlier, while I didn't really pay any attention to who was president when Nixon went to China, I do recall the event.  Even at such a young age I thought it wasn't nice to turn our back on the Taiwanese to recognize China, though I did understand China was a lot bigger and had the bomb.  A little kid can understand about giving in to bullies. 

Yet cynics are only cynical because they have ideals and hopes (that are repeatedly dashed).  I still keep hoping that someone will come along who is honorable and decent and will rise above petty politics.  (That's why I'm so especially disappointed in this season's presidental candidates—they're more honorable and decent that a lot of politicians, but still get sucked into the ugliness of partisan and petty politics.)  I keep hoping that the extremists on various issues will start listening to each other and to the centrists rather to just to those with whom they already agree, and will come to realize that none of us has all the answers.  I keep hoping, but am constantly disappointed.

I would like to avoid the whole mess, but I cannot.  I remind myself that the word "liturgy" original comes from the concept of the work of the people, in the sense of doing one's civic duty in a secular state.  I remind myself that the more cynical and idealistic I am the more I have a responsibility to do something, however futile.  I remind myself that Calvin held public office to be a calling to service.  I remind myself that our form of representative democracy in the state was inspired and informed by the presbyterian form of government of my church's tradition.  At the same time, I cannot forget that the checks and balances in both my nation's government and my church's government are there because of the acknowledgement that all institutions are formed of imperfect, yea, even corrupt, humans.  In other words, this glorious democracy works, however lurchingly, because it incorporates our realistic cynicism as well as our best hopes.

So, I don't believe the politicians, I refuse to be associated with a political party, and I disagree with everyone on all sides of the issues.  And, I vote.