Our political process

Ah the media. Owned by corporations and giving us what they think we want, what we don't necessarily need, and doing it to make a buck or two. They have struck again and, like most other times, they create their own drama.

This past week we saw Barrack Obama raked over the coals again for making a comment that, frankly, some people, not all, don't agree with. He unfortunately used phrasing that made him appear to be an elitist, pointing to our love of fear and how Pennsylvanians could vote based on their love of guns and God.

Now, don't get me wrong, I hate the idea that voting, the one thing we truly get a say with (take with grain of salt) is based on arbitrary things like your views on religion and firearms but that's the kind of America we live in.

But to not address the issue of why we vote is to not get to the true nature of electing people. When driven by fear, we get presidents like George W. Bush. Playing off the fear that our personal safety is always at stake, we could, hopefully not, elect John McCain. Is that what we want?

Politicians wield a whole lot of power. They can affect commerce, infrastructure and a whole of people's lives. If they so choose, they could get you or I an opportunity to have jobs in our community or put us on the front line of the war.

But what people base their decisions on can be far too complex to give the right, not necessarily the most popular, the job of governance. Some argue that we should have to be informed to vote. Others argue that we should just keep everything exactly the same way.

I would say that we should amp up the qualifications to be a candidate, therefore negating the need to be an informed voter. We could make it so that anyone wanting to be a politico has to have a license to be so. They could have to take a series of courses and exams and get certified to be in government. That way, when it comes to running for office, we know that this person isn't just trying to get into power to get into power.

Right now we are given all stripes of people in power. Most come from being lawyers and businesspeople. The rare few are physicians or actors (really?) and it runs like a popularity contest. But if all had to have the same qualifications then we could be guaranteed that they had all, at minimum, read the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Of course, that would take me out of the running but, then again, would you vote for an atheist, non-gun-owning liberal? Don't think so.

Peace.