I’ve got some pretty strong opinions about politics in America, and there was a time when I had no problem letting fly with a thousand-word missive about the rampant arrogance, duplicitous nature and downright idiocy of our leaders. But because there seems to be an aggressively increasing intolerance for independent thinking these days, and especially because I’m so tired of all the hyperbole and bullshit associated with politicians and the lemmings that follow them like rock stars, I mostly avoid the subject in public forums.
When I was young, I was taught to avoid discussion of politics and religion in “polite” company, because some (most) people can’t debate those things without becoming so personally involved that they can’t separate the concept of rational debate from that of personal attack. Welcome to America in the New Millennium. Polarization due to the tactics of politicians and the (mostly television) media has made political ideology mutually exclusive and intolerant — you’re either with us or against us, no matter what. That’s lead to the slow death of logic and intellectualism, ignorance to the harsh realities of the world we live in, and the marginalization of the kind of centrist and moderate thinking that allows for the much needed variation of philosophy that makes up the core of one of the most American of ideals — diversity.
Hence no previous posts about the current election; I just haven’t wanted to deal with a glut of subject matter that all feels a lot like a lost cause. But here we go.
These days, I stand strong in my belief that most politicians on both sides of aisle are crooked enough to have to screw their pants on in the morning; that pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Michael Moore are cut from the same cloth; and that the concept of a government By The People and For The People is a fading utopian idea. But I’ve never given up on the way the system is supposed to work. I’ve never not voted since I turned 18, I try to be aware of what’s happening in the world and across the nation and in my hometown and how it all effects me, and I would never tell someone that, while things certainly do look bleak, there’s no hope and that they should just give up.
Ice Cube said it best: “I’ll never tell you to get down / it’s all about comin’ up.”
And that’s why I like Barak Obama. Unike his opponents, he sticks to the issues, avoids as much boisterous hyperbole as possible, and addresses the problems that face America with plans for actual change, not just a fleeting marketing campaign based on the word.
So in the spirit of hope and action and restoring truth to everything I was taught about America in school as a youngster, I offer the following mix, put together by the homie King Most. He released it via his Facebook and MySpace pages, and I figured I’d share it with y’all here. It’s mostly soul and funk, a little rap, with the sociopolitical messages embodied by the Obama campaign — hope, unity, reality and change…all in one convenient mp3 stream.
King Most: The Obamix. Enjoy…
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