Votey-votey McVotevote.

Let me preface the following by saying that there are few things I hate more than talking and/or ranting politics, but this has been boiling under my wan skin for some time now. Plus, I've been meaning to get a little more serious about this blogging stuff. I enjoy it.

I can't fully express how glad I am that it is now officially too late to register to vote for the 2008 Presidential Election. I have four more years of comfort before the boundaries of Pax Pedestriana are again breached by self-righteous (or, as is more often the case, mildy-liberal and job-desperate) political party canvassers. No, I am not registered to vote, and no, you cannot convince me to sign up, even if it only takes five minutes. No, I do not want to play an active role in this sham of a system that so many people are naively convinced is a legitimate republic, or worse, a democracy. Forgive me if because the first election I was old enough to comprehend was "won" by the inept puppet of a caucus of neofascists who was not, in fact, the people's selected candidate, but was instead chosen by a crooked, bought-out league of old white men's participation in a grossly outdated system established to homogenize party sway and curve the ignorant voices of America's massively ignorant and illiterate population. Honestly believing that dutifully playing this jacked game is going to make a difference in this country or its government is what allows the powers that be to continue with their veiled regulation unchecked. As long as they're able to convince us that it ain't broke, there's no way some unwarrentedly-idolicized bastion of "Hope" and "Change" is going to fix it for us.

I should first admit that I know about as much about Barack Obama as I do about the sexual habits of the Pope, which isn't much, but his position assures me that they're nothing particularly impressive, but at the same time, and for the same reason, not something to be taken lightly. That being said, I want to emphasize that what I'm about to say isn't really about Barack Obama himself so much as it's about his campaign, or, rather, the campaign being conducted for him.

It seems bloodyfuckingimpossible for me to go anywhere these days without seeing Obama's visage at every turn. On t-shirts, posters, TVs, bumpers. Shit, even laced in the spokes of the "politically conscious" fixed build. I'm all for expressing your beliefs in the most absurdly loud and public ways possible, if for no other reason than the fact that it makes my rides more interesting, but I'm truly bothered by the veritable iconification of Obama. Shepard Fairey's now ubiquitous HOPE image seems to've created a direct link between the politician and the abstract concept. Again, there's no foul in making art for a cause you support, but I can't help but think this is all going a little too far.

Obama's so easy to be radicalized, being black, not to mention that he's the first direction we've been given to look to guide us through the aftermath of the disastrous Bush regime. To the large portion of the Left in desperate search for its hero, his lightly liberal standing appears flag-burning next to McCain's ancient conservatism, winning him the support of many of those who might, in less dire conditions, be considerably less enthused about this Democratic candidate that voted in favor of the most gross violation of our Constitutional rights since.. ever. This radicalization has won him the seemingly unquestioned support of the arts community (not to mention desperateforsomewaytolookedgy kids who're well below voting age, but are somehow convinced they're going to change the world by typing "OBAMA 08" in their MySpace headlines); those who're typically the hardest to please and impress. Granted, I'm none too seasoned, but I don't know of any other time in history that a political candidate has had such passionate and proud artistic and subculture support. Not surprisingly, Obama's campaign really hasn't specifically addressed said voter demographics, but rather it's this ridiculous HOPE epidemic that's duped my dearest creative cohorts. When a candidate gains the shouted support of one of the most internationally-known and respected names in subversive and sociopolitical art, those who care, or want to, or want to look like they do, listen up.

Or do they? Are people just so exhausted by the Bush regime that they'll throw their fists up for anything that isn't war-mongering and dynastied? How can the (supposedly) most questioning and challenging minds in the country be so willing and ready to throw their allegiance to an upstart politician? What has he done to win such respect and faith? Has Barack Obama somehow transcended the long-held standards of what a politician is, and is he somehow going to be able to maintain this elusive integrity in the office to which so many are so eager to appoint him? That George Bush was brought back into office, our country well-aware of his failings, is scary, but to bring Obama into office thinking him some sort of Messiah; the face of Change, of Hope, of Difference and Progress, is absolutely terrifying. Where has everyone's cynicism gone? Why isn't Barack Obama a cheater and a liar like every other politician?

Let's say Obama is the truest, most legit, honest OG to ever preach at a political podium. Let's say he is Hope, he is Change. He's a black politician, and doesn't come from the most affluent background. He effortlessly represents America's most mistreated and abused minority. Barack Obama is running for the office of the President of the United States of America, and office that has only ever been held by old white men. An office that was created by old white men. Who owned black slaves. An office created by men that counted a black man humanly less than a white man, that forbade women and non-landowners to vote.

This all being obvious and well-known, how can anyone really believe that a black man will succeed in changing, nay, revolutionizing, a white man's office? The Presidency was the Presidency is the Presidency will always be the Presidency. Obama could be a homosexual Muslim with a solution to world hunger in his back pocket, but he's still going to have to play by the now centuries old rules that have been keeping our nation's leaders in some degree of check since the office's inception. There is no room for iconified Hope, Change, Difference, and Progress in the Oval Office. He can pull us out of Iraq, he can give subtle, though likely insubstantial, voice for Black America, he can be wheatpasted under bridges and stenciled on edgy t-shirts, but he is not the man to change our country. And when people finally realize this, when Obama fucks up, all this blind faith and unconditional support, is going to feel miserably cold. The same as when your hero gives in to evil, when your lover breaks your heart, your President of Hope will inevitably violate your trust.

What then?

I'm tired and I'm scared. Why aren't you?