Politics and Crazy People

t seems like everyone is talking about the political rhetoric in this country in the wake of the shootings in Arizona. My problem is that I read MSNBC's website almost every day as my go-to for the latest news headlines, and after I read an article I will almost always read the comments left by just about every idiot on the face of this planet. This has made it seem like this country has had no shortage of crazy people with stupid things to say for quite some time now, and the current political climate is nothing new. Also, anyone who has ever taken 15 minutes out of their life and wasted them on Craigslist's Rants and Raves section is well aware of what Im talking about.

For me, its hard to step back far enough to try and see the bigger picture of what the ACTUAL political climate in this country is, outside of what extremists post on the internet and what retarded talking heads say on cable news networks. These cant be the voices of the majority; can they? My hope is that the majority of Americans are much more sane, have political opinions in common, and are just too busy being smarter and saner to post commentary on news websites. Perhaps they realize that attempting to reason with crazy people is futile. This is my hope.

I also wonder if our crazies today are any crazier than American crazies have been in the past, or if it just seems that way now because of the overload in mediums by which news and information is shared, or because more crazies than ever actually have access to a vehicle for their crazy opinions to be carried around the world (the internet). Imagine back in the day when you would actually have to be in the presence of someone crazy to be subjected to their insanity - doesnt that seem like blissfully sweet, sweet silence? Was it easier to be sane then? Or is it easier to make more informed opinions now with easier access to so much more information? Or is the internet easier access to misinformation?

I have a million questions like these and zero answers.

Seamus is a fantastic person to have these conversations with because he studied political science with an emphasis on international politics and is also a history nerd. So sometimes I spout off these questions about America and the world and society and political climate - not really expecting an answer - and he usually has some insightful opinion and I end up learning something about world history.

So whats a girl to do in this day and age? Well, so far my strategy is this: I take most of what I read on the internet with a grain of salt, take solace in things like The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and The Onion for perspective from people who are funny and also realize that all this shit is crazy, and hope that in the end the world will not cave in on us.

xoxo