Discouraged with American Politics

I have been thinking about our political system in America a lot recently. I am disappointed with the direction I see this country going and I am more disappointed with how our politicians and political pundits have been acting. This disappointment is leading me down a path of disinterest and indifference. Simply put, I am fed-up.

To those that don't know me, let me preface this by saying my beliefs are the following:

I am fiscally conservative, socially liberal and moderate on most of the other issues. Therefore, I feel that I can find middle ground with just about anyone. I also feel that most people in the US are moderate but we only hear about a few primary issues that define who is liberal and who is conservative.

• Do I think America is a great country? Yes.
• Do I think America is better than most countries? Yes.
• Do I feel that America is royally screwing things up? Yes.
• Do I blame it on Democrats? No.
• Do I blame it on Republicans? No.
• Do I blame it on the media? A tiny bit.
  
• Do I blame it on us? YES!

The people are the problem. We elect the representatives that we complain about. We watch shows and give ratings to opinion columnists, not news broadcasters. We are the ones who want our news fed to us so we don't have to think about the facts ourselves. Why make our own conclusions when someone can make it for us!

This problem is nothing new, it is just new to me. It took me a while to come full circle and end up exactly where I started. It is sad when the system give the people ALL the power but we cannot agree on anything to the point where no one gets what they want. It is sad when we feel like no matter how we vote it has to be for one of the two parties or we are throwing our vote away. It is just sad that we all go through life looking for the differences in our opinions instead of trying to find out what we have in common.

It is for this reason that I am officially resigning from the political process. I am no longer going to vote until I see things change. I truly believe that any president in office today would get nothing of impact passed because of all the bickering and name calling at lower government levels and I cannot see that changing. Only time will tell.