Friday, October 31, 2008

Sarah Palin - Heroine or Heroin?

(I wrote this article for Associated Content...thought I'd share with you)

So the other night, I had this dream....

More about that in a minute.

I'm curious as to what would happen if we removed our emotions from the decisions we make at the polls. I'm not a politically charged person by nature. I don't generally spend alot of time collecting the proper amount of knowledge to make a truly informed decision on what's best for our country, our states, or our general well-being as a population. Do you? Do you really spend alot of time researching the TRUTH? Do any of us know the truth? Or do you listen to your neighbor, with his opinions based loosely somewhere around what he heard on the radio last week, or what he's decided is HIS truth, since nurture played a larger role in his upbringing than did nature? I've heard stories, and speeches, and rants, and slander from every direction, and going in every direction. How is it possible, do tell me, that any of us can really make an informed decision? From what we hear on the news, and in television commercials?

If you're looking for me to answer that question now, I'm sorry to disappoint. I don't have the answer, and I hope that you realize you don't either. This is in no way to discourage you from making your favored selection on Tuesday. By all means, give your opinion. But understand that's all it is. How many of us know these candidates well? How many of us realize just what's in store for us once the decision is made? How would we decide if our thoughts were completely devoid of any emotional charge, and solely based on fact? If Barack Obama's color didn't bother us, and Sarah Palin's gender didn't bother us. How would we decide if we weren't completely irate with the shenanigans of the past 8 years? Or if we understood that our government has much more control over what we see and hear than we know about? And if that fact didn't make us more angry than we already are?

Now that I've filled your head with a thousand questions, let me tell you about my dream. I walked into a room, and spotted Sarah Palin hunched over in the corner, by some cabinets. I looked a little more closely, and noticed that she was shooting heroin. Yep, seriously. I thought quick, something I don't generally do while awake, and snapped a picture of it with my cell phone. As I started to walk away, her goons came after me, and I woke up, with cell phone in hand! Much to my dismay, without any actual pictures of Sarah; heroin or not.

Now, what on Earth does this mean? I'm leaving it up to you to give me your opinions, answers, interpretations, etc. There are a million different ways you can decipher what this dream means to me, what it means to you, and what it might mean to your neighbor. The symbolism involved in this dream was for me personally, but it was also to be shared with you. Fill up your explanation of my dream with all your opinions, your similar experiences, your rage-filled insults, and your comedic retorts. The answers that you give, my friends, are based on the same experiences, and opinions that will be driving your answers on Tuesday. Ask yourself why you read this article, and how it made you feel. Then ask yourself why you feel the way you do about each of our candidates, and how your feelings will affect the outcome of this election, and our country's future. Is Sarah Palin a heroine? Is John McCain a villain? Is Barack Obama a direct descendant of Osama Bin Laden? Well, their names do sound alot alike! Let's get real. Take another look at what you can see, and remove yourself from your feelings. Make a decision based on the truth, if you know where to find it.

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