We desperately need political change

One of the original purposes of this blog was to use it as an outlet for me to let off some steam. I recently tried to vent about frustrations that I'm having with American politics, but this wasn't nearly enough. I have decided to try to loosen up further. As a result, expect this rant to be even angrier than usual.

It started in 2016. A conman from the Democratic party by the name of Donald Trump infiltrated the Republican party. He pushed a larger-than-life persona that resulted in just about everyone developing strong opinions of him. Those who liked him voted for him in the primaries. Those who hated him split their votes among his numerous opponents. I'm not convinced that Trump would have won in a one-on-one contest with any of his opponents, but the crowded field propelled him to victory.

I was never satisfied with Trump winning the nomination. He crossed numerous lines such as insisting that voters should vote based on the looks of wives. He used his status as an outsider to win votes, but he acted just like a typical corrupt politician. I'm not a fan of career politicians running the country, but there were alternative outsider candidates who did not act like insiders.

Perhaps my biggest issue with Trump's campaign was his similarities to Barack Obama. Although these two differed on issues, their personalities were far too similar. Both are politicians who are primarily concerned with putting themselves in the history books. Both reject criticism. Neither care about ethics. In a sense, the big change we saw was a shift from "phony scandals" to "fake news." This was a tactic that Trump copied from Obama, but people failed to connect the two.

Trump was arrogant like Obama, but perhaps not to the same extent. He was divisive like Obama, but perhaps not to the same extent. He was corrupt like Obama, but perhaps not to the same extent. Trump even said a number of things that were borderline racist. This is obviously not to the same extent as Barack Obama. After eight disastrous years under Obama, the Republicans nominated Obama-lite.

Trump ultimately won the presidential election and tried to pander to his base. On multiple occasions, it appeared that he didn't even know what his base believed. For example, he tried to push the idea that it would be his decision rather than the decision of the states to reopen for business during the Covid-19 pandemic. This goes against the state rights that conservatives believe in. He quickly reversed direction.

Let's also not forget his impeachment. He abused his power like Barak Obama. He resorted to a quid pro quo like Biden. He seemingly turned to foreign agents to help his campaign (the Democrats never provided any proof of a motive) like Hillary Clinton. The Democrats impeached Trump for acting like a Democrat.

One of the many problems I have with the American political system is bipartisan political conformity. I have never cared for criticizing those who are Republican in name only (RINO). People should not be expected to strictly adhere to the beliefs of their parties. Trump was a RINO, but not in a good way. Political conformists gradually shifted to be more line with their party and its leader. Gradually, we shifted the label of RINO from Trump to absolutely anyone who dared to stand up to him.

The Republicans aren't the only ones who have changed. Over the years, the Democrats have taken a downright terrifying turn. That party goes out of its way to fuel hate, intolerance, division, mindlessness, over-conformity, oppression, and so much more. Donald Trump's presidency has pushed more and more people into supporting the party of hate, intolerance, division, mindlessness, over-conformity, and oppression.

To further complicate things, let's talk about the insanely corrupt American media. Like I have already stated, Trump is essentially Obama-lite. How has the media treated these two like-minded individuals. They went out of their way to protect Obama. They even have some people convinced that his scandal-ridden presidency was scandal-free. In the case of Trump, absolutely everything he does is automatically a breaking scandal.

After Trump lost, some idiots who support Trump resorted to violence. This was absolutely wrong and must be condemned. Trump fell short of this necessity. Instead, he fueled their anger and insisted that people should go home. Liberals and the media not only called him out for it, but took things further. They portrayed this as though Trump had demanded violence. This might not have been so bad if the same exact people hadn't spent the prior year defending violence.

The media tried to compare the police responses between riots. I mean fiery but mostly peaceful protests against riots. Mostly white people facing lethal force compared to BLM and Antifa (who are also mostly white) being injured somehow conclusively proves white privilege. I don't know the circumstances, but the facts being reported aren't even close to the message.

Let's not overlook the media's passing of blame. Rioters who are harmed when they are pursuing misguided liberal objectives are victims of police officers. Rioters who are harmed when they are pursuing misguided conservative objectives are victims of their leaders.

The Washington Post took things even further. They have actually posted some of the names of people identified at the riot at the nation's capital. They never took this action with BLM or Antifa.

I have a simple question that I would like the media to answer. Are liberal and conservative riots comparable or not? They seem to be very inconsistent with this messaging. I'm sure some would say that we should treat this as worse, but I personally don't think that it would be any better if I destroyed your business than if I tried to beak into the Capitol. If you truly want to compare these riots, you can't simply say, "the police response in the videos that we selected to show you conclusively prove the entirety of how these compare." You can't prove white privilege by saying people you associate with white privilege were treated better while simultaneously treating them far worse.

Like I mentioned, the Washington Post has publicly posted names. This can be a complicated issue when it comes to employment. As I have repeatedly stated, employers should not control lives of their workers away from jobs. In this case, there is criminal activity involved. I don't believe that a job should be saved for someone who goes to jail. I also don't believe that a business should be responsible for convicting employees on the basis of pictures posted online. Employers who have fired their employees have gone too far.

In may ways, I get it. The Democrats right now are terrifying. I don't want them to have power. I can't stand the thought of the Democrats controlling the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. The issue is that I don't want to see the Republicans try to out-Democrat the Democrats.

Here's the bottom line. The Republicans were infiltrated by a Democrat. That Democrat has been destroying the party from within. It sickens me to see the party moving closer to the Democrats. We have now had two straight elections where both major party candidates have been Democrats. Trump has threatened a third.

I have acknowledged that I'm closer to the Republican than the Democrats. As much as I hate having to clarify the obvious, there are far too many people who can't grasp this concept. This neither means that I am a Republican or that I support the Republicans.

I don't mind saying some things that could be viewed as controversial. We have a far too narrow and rigid perspective on what qualifies as socially acceptable. I could only meet standards of social acceptability if I completely abandoned thought. I won't do that. This might be part of the reason that I hate seeing people lose their job for defying liberal norms. I think it's a safe bet that I would lose my job if my employer knew who I really am.

Democrats have no problems destroying livelihoods of people they disagree with. This is not just Republicans. Again, I am not a Republican. I still have to hide who I am whenever I'm out in public. I do not conform to the ideology of the Democratic party. If people found out who I really am, it could potentially be the end of my life. Democrats right now are threatening the livelihoods not just of Republicans, but people who do not conform to their ideology. I can honestly say that I hate having to be a bad person for the sake of survival.

What Trump did was wrong. Trump's antics should not let the Democrats off the hook for how horrible they have become. This includes politicians, partisan loyalists, and the American media. I also want to make it clear that Republicans are just as guilty. It's embarrassing to see how easily they were duped, and how eager they were to conform to the views of the worst Republican president of our time.

The Democrats are undeniably corrupt. How do the Republicans respond? By acting more like Democrats. While the Democrats are cheating in elections by taking control of the schools and the media, the Republicans respond by looking for their own ways to cheat. We need to end the cheating, not turn this into a contest of who can cheat better. Instead of fixing what's wrong with the Democrats, the Republicans are copying them. The Republicans are turning into the second Democratic party. As I have long insisted, the one thing worse than a two-party system is a one-party system. Despite moving closer to a one-party system, less than 2% of American voters dared to deviate from the two horrible like-minded major-party candidates. To put it another way, over 98% of Americans who voted in the recent presidential election voted for electors bound to Democrats. As someone who has serious problems with that party, this number is deeply concerning.

We need reform, and we need it now. I'm not talking about simply switching over to a popular vote, especially since the Democrats are already plotting how to manipulate the popular vote. We desperately need a new system that allows us to elect good people as our leaders, not bad political parties. We need an election model that does not promote two-party (or one-party) politics. We need to restore fundamental human rights and freedoms. We need information sources that don't hide the truth behind an agenda. We need to end mental genocide. We need something different. What we're doing right now simply does not work. 

Unfortunately, I'm not convinced that the change we need is even possible. We have become so entrenched in the way things already are that most of us would struggle adapting to a better world. Although politicians have had success campaigning on change, meaningful change is always met with resistance. In all honesty, I do not believe that our country can be salvaged. A lot of people will hate hearing this, but it needs to be said. We need to scrap our current government and start over. That is likely the only possibility to turn things around.