As I've mentioned before, I'm not one who really likes getting into politics too much, too many times I seem to just get disgusted with how the government is run sometimes, but I just wanted to mention something I've been thinking about.

As many know the US Presidential Elections are coming up this November and many, rightfully so, are very much getting involved in the primaries. Everyone seems to be focusing on the presidential elections, somehow believing that by Bush leaving office and a new president, even a Democrat, that the state of the nation is going to do a 180 degree turn and go back to the way it should be. Now don't get me wrong, a new president, particularly Obama in my opinion, could very much help America change its status in the world for the better, but a new president can only do so much.

Too many times, I hear of people complaining about some of the lousy laws that are getting passed in this country. Two come to mind, the first being the telecom bill (not yet passed) that grants retroactive immunity to the telecom companies, and the other being the College Opportunity and Affordability Act (PDF). The latter one will apparently cut off university funding unless universities enact strict anti-piracy strategies...in other words, unless the universities do the RIAA and MPAA's dirty work, then they'll lose funding. In my opinion, these bills aren't what I want to see getting passed through congress. People complain about these and a lot of times, I hear people blaming Bush for them. Now granted, the telecom immunity bill, he probably pressured for, but in the end that's not the point.

The President of the United States does not make the laws. As a quick refresher, there are 3 branches of government, the executive, legislative, and judicial. The legislative branch makes/writes the laws. The executive branch only approves them. If people are constantly seeing laws that they don't like, the president, in this case, Bush, is not the one to blame. Blame your congressmen, push for your representatives to vote against the bills that you feel are wrong, and push for them to vote for the bills you feel are right.

People are constantly complaining about this, yet for some reason, the same representatives seem to keep getting voted into office. The presidential elections are important, but so are the House of Representatives and Senate elections as well. I can't say I've never been guilty of this oversight, but at the same time, I'm not going to overlook this fact next time around.

Get involved in the elections, read up on the candidates, both presidential and for your representatives. And vote. Democracy, as jaded as I might sound, can only begin to happen when the people get involved. Vote for who you feel is the best candidate. If you don't vote, that is of course your right, but don't complain later when you feel the wrong candidate was elected.

Tags: election2008, rant, politics