Vote For God On Nov. 2nd

It has been said that this upcoming election is one that could make, or break, America. While I don’t think the United States is that frail or vulnerable, choosing the right people for office is something that is very important.

With all that has been said by the candidates, the media, and normal people in regular conversations, it seems to me that some people have a mistaken idea of what the President’s job is.

Our current President, George Bush, has been accused of being responsible for many things. It’s his fault that the economy took a dive and jobs were lost after the attacks on September 11th (some liberal conspiracy theorists even suggest that Bush knew 9/11 was going to happen, but allowed it because it would give him justification to take out Saddam). It’s his fault that the intelligence that we and other nations had before the war, was wrong. It’s his fault that he didn’t foresee the September 11th attacks and that some 3,000 Americans were killed “on his watch.” It’s Bush’s fault that some prison guards in Iraq were abusing prisoners. It’s his fault that other countries are charging us more for buying the oil that they pump. It’s his fault that healthcare is getting to be unaffordable. It’s the President’s fault that Osama Bin Laden is good at hiding. Now it’s Bush’s fault that hundreds of thousands of pounds of explosives are missing from Iraq.

I think all of the President’s problems boil down to one core issue; the President isn’t omnipotent and he isn’t omniscient.

People who don’t like President Bush, for whatever reason, are usually rather quick to jump on the “pin it all on him and make him look like an ass” bandwagon. Yet many of the things that Bush opponents try to blame the President for are not only not his fault, but they aren’t his responsibility.

Although he IS the President, he isn’t in charge of intelligence and can’t be held responsible when our (and those of almost every other ally who shared intelligence with us) intelligence isn’t accurate.

Although he IS the President, it’s not part of his job description to make jobs. In fact, unless he actually is hiring a lot of assistants, he can’t create ANY jobs. All he can do is try and create a climate in which private employers (and big corporations tend to have lots of employees, so they can’t be all bad) hire more workers.

Although he IS the President and the Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces, he isn’t personally responsible for every action of every subordinate of his. It may sound nice to try and make him culpable whenever someone below him does something wrong, but it’s impossible for a single person to be personally responsible for the actions of hundreds of thousands of people.

It seems to me that those who hold President Bush responsible for all the things that he’s been blamed for don’t really want a President. They don’t really want a fallible man in the White House; they want someone who is all-knowing and powerful enough to make all the “right” decisions 100% of the time.

What I find a little odd is that the very people who expect the President to be more than human are most often the ones who scream the loudest any time God is mentioned in connection with the government.

This current Presidential race has been quite a disappointment for me, personally. So much energy has been wasted on trying to discredit opponents, by both sides, that there has really been very little talk about things of substance other than people’s “qualifications.”

Both President Bush and John Kerry both say they have “plans” for things, but don’t really tell what they are (even on their websites, which they often point to when people ask for details of their “plans”). Bush says he has a plan for changing the social security system, yet doesn’t expound on that. John Kerry says he has a plan to fix Iraq, but doesn’t really expand on that. And the list goes on.

I think very few voters are able to say that they are really voting for either candidate because they think that one has better ideas than the other. I think that this is going to be the first election within my lifetime, and perhaps for a long time, which is going to be decided by people casting their votes mainly based on the candidate’s character and track record (or because for some reason they have a burning desire to keep one candidate out of office).

Democrats portray President Bush as a cowboy who has no problem doing whatever he pleases, all while giving any nation who disapproves a big old “Fuck off.” They say he is unwilling and unable to admit to making mistakes, and because of that he lacks the character to lead the country.

Republicans portray John Kerry as a flip-flopper who lacks the balls to get any ideas or values of his own. He’ll say anything, do anything, become anything, as long as it accomplishes whatever personal goal he’s shooting for. They say he doesn’t care that what he says and what he does may conflict each other, because in the end he’s smarter than everyone else anyways and most people wouldn’t comprehend his reasons for what he does. Because he changes with the wind, he lacks the character to lead the country.

I think what people need to remember when they vote is that no matter who wins, no matter how important and powerful the office of The President is, the man who fills those shoes will always only be a man. No matter who is President, bad things will happen “on his watch.” Not because he lacks something that is required for being the best leader possible (although the ability to see the future would be rather beneficial to our nation), but because that’s life and bad things happen during the terms of every President.

Those who know me know I’m nothing close to a Christian. I don’t believe in any God and wouldn’t honestly try to get anyone to do that either. Yet if people really want a leader who won’t make mistakes and who can control and be responsible for every aspect of American life, perhaps they should go to church and look there instead. If you are looking for someone with the powers of God to be President, you shouldn’t be looking at the ballot box because you won’t find him there.