I think I am in political burn-out. I was in Orlando this past week and, on Tuesday, the Democrats had their first debate. I watched about five minutes of it and turned the television off and read a novel.
Later I turned on Fox News and one of the Republican candidates was about to be interviewed. I turned off the television, opened a bag of Cheetos, and returned to my novel.
On Wednesday morning, I woke up turned on the TV just in time to watch an analysis of the debates if I wanted to. I didn’t. I turned off the TV and went to Perkins for two eggs and toast with a small glass of milk.
I was in meetings all day long and no one even mentioned the race for the presidential nomination. Maybe that’s because there are 20 (or is it 21?) men and women who have declared their candidacy for the highest office in the land. Add to that the fact that the 2016 race has been going on for 20 years. At least it feels like 20 years.
It’s not that I am unconcerned. I am very concerned. It’s just that my poor brain can only take so much exposure.
When I was in the Marine Corps a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, it was not uncommon for young Marines to go to “gentlemen’s clubs.” Not that I ever did that, you understand, but I heard stories.
For a 19-year-old kid from a small town to be exposed to that experience was a culture shock and a licentious thrill. But, interestingly, after a while, the “entertainers” on stage would eventually be ignored as talk turned to college football, news from the hometown, or the Vietnam War. Overexposure, pardon the pun, led to a loss of interest.
I have grown weary of socialist Bernie Sanders offering to give free stuff away at a taxpayer cost of trillions of dollars. I am tired of listening to Republican Donald Trump do his Don Rickles impersonation and insult every other candidate as though he is the only smart kid in the class.
I am over listening to Democrat Hillary Clinton, who might or might not be indicted, pander to whatever group she is facing and I am numbed by the veteran Republicans career politicians who are trying to run as “outsiders.”
I wish I could turn on the news and just get the news without seeing the faces of 20 (or is it 21?) presidential hopefuls who will not be able to be elected for another 13 months.
When I was eligible to cast my first vote, I couldn’t. I was in the Marine Corps and away from home. My first actual vote was cast for Jimmy Carter, at Chuckey Elementary School in Tennessee, in his first bid for the presidency. My second vote was for Ronald Reagan who unseated Carter. As far as I can remember, I have voted in every presidential election since. And, hopefully,I will vote again in 2016.
I just don’t want to be consumed with all the hoopla for the next year and a month. There’s more to life than pundits, news people, promises, lies, and endless speeches.
I will vote in the primary early next year. Hopefully, by then, the herds will have been culled to a few credible candidates. I will vote for the candidate who best represents my own views, which are fiscally and socially conservative. I believe in a strong America, an America that helps those who need a hand up, in the sanctity of life, and in the U.S. Constitution, including and especially the 1st and 2nd Amendments.
I think everybody should have skin in the game and pay their fair share of taxes, the rich and poor alike. I believe in term limits for all politicians and I believe in equality for all people. I believe that all lives matter. Perhaps I will finally find a candidate I can support fully. Failing that, I will hold my nose and vote for the least repugnant candidate.
The good thing is that, in November 2016, the election will be over. The bad thing is that, in December 2016, the race for 2020 will begin.
[David Epps is the pastor of the Cathedral of Christ the King, Sharpsburg, GA (www.ctkcec.org). He is the bishop of the Mid-South Diocese which consists of Georgia and Tennessee (www.midsouthdiocese.org) and the Associate Endorser for the Department of the Armed Forces, U. S. Military Chaplains, ICCEC. He may contacted at frepps@ctkcec.org.]
