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Oct. 23rd, 2010 10:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bobcatmoranJust finished reading Don't Vote, It Just Encourages the Bastards by P.J. O'Rourke. I'm a registered Democrat, and I'll admit that my news sources are rather biased toward the liberal side, so it's good to read something from the other side. Plus, O'Rourke is pretty funny.
Now, I'll admit that I am insanely liberal on most social issues. I believe very strongly in a woman's right to choose and have never been able to understand the sheer fear and hatred that some people have towards gay marriage (seriously, people, it's not like they're forcing you to marry someone of the same gender). But after living a couple years in New York, I can say that I fully agree with O'Rourke that something needs to be done to reign in the government. It can't be expected to do all things for all people at all times, and the horrible nesting-doll layers that we have here (I vote for school board, village, town, county, state, and federal levels, three of which have full-fledged legislatures) means that if anything is to be done it must 1) be talked to death and 2) become bloated beyond all recognition with little bonuses for every Tom, Dick, and Harry who ever gave two cents for anyone at any level of government. After living in five different states, I can say that to some extent this is a problem nationwide, but it seems worse here than anywhere else I've lived.
However, unlike Carl Paladino, the Republican candidate for NY governor, I don't think the solution is to "take a baseball bat to Albany." He'll probably just piss off everyone, no one will want to cooperate with him, and he'll be left futilely raging until he gives himself a heart attack or something.
In other political news, although I don't plan to vote for him, this guy did a fabulous job of keeping last Monday's gubernatorial debate interesting.
ETA: The "if you want to marry a shoe" comment was his response to a question on his position on gay marriage. :D
Now, I'll admit that I am insanely liberal on most social issues. I believe very strongly in a woman's right to choose and have never been able to understand the sheer fear and hatred that some people have towards gay marriage (seriously, people, it's not like they're forcing you to marry someone of the same gender). But after living a couple years in New York, I can say that I fully agree with O'Rourke that something needs to be done to reign in the government. It can't be expected to do all things for all people at all times, and the horrible nesting-doll layers that we have here (I vote for school board, village, town, county, state, and federal levels, three of which have full-fledged legislatures) means that if anything is to be done it must 1) be talked to death and 2) become bloated beyond all recognition with little bonuses for every Tom, Dick, and Harry who ever gave two cents for anyone at any level of government. After living in five different states, I can say that to some extent this is a problem nationwide, but it seems worse here than anywhere else I've lived.
However, unlike Carl Paladino, the Republican candidate for NY governor, I don't think the solution is to "take a baseball bat to Albany." He'll probably just piss off everyone, no one will want to cooperate with him, and he'll be left futilely raging until he gives himself a heart attack or something.
In other political news, although I don't plan to vote for him, this guy did a fabulous job of keeping last Monday's gubernatorial debate interesting.
ETA: The "if you want to marry a shoe" comment was his response to a question on his position on gay marriage. :D
