Being Different—Just Like Everyone Else

Photo © Associated Press

I rarely discuss traditional Democrat-versus-Republican politics because, for me, issues are bigger than party politics. The issue itself, no matter the issue, should be discussed, evaluated, and debated as an individual concept. Whether it’s an idea that has been adopted by the Democrats or the Republicans, the party association should not matter.

Because of this, I don’t refer to myself as a member of either of the two parties. Actually, I’m not registered with any party. While many of my ideas might push me to be placed in the “libertarian” folder, it would be libertarian with a lower-case L. I support the Second Amendment but also support drug legalization. I’m against No Child Left Behind legislation, but I’m also opposed to mandatory Social Security donations. I support tax dollars going toward public education, but not for the National Endowment for the Arts. I support anti-pollution laws, but haven’t become one of the global-warming-must-be-manmade sheep.

In November I actually voted, having abstained from the last few elections because I didn’t like any of the candidates. I refuse to vote unless there’s someone on the ballot that I actually support. For me, the act of voting for voting’s sake is more detrimental to the nation than abstaining is.

You might think that I voted in 2008 because I wanted to rise up with many of the voters to press a button for Barack Obama on my county’s security-flawed Diebold voting machines. Instead I wrote in Ron Paul’s name, since he was—in my opinion—one of the few who was actually offering legitimate change (along with Ralph Nader, but ideologically I don’t agree with him). And yes, I’m fully aware that he wasn’t actually running anymore.

Now, don’t get me wrong: I liked Obama’s overall message of hope, growth, and bringing an end to the Bush era. I like the idea of the citizenry feeling good and hopeful because when the population is looking up, there’s a really good chance that the economy and everything else will start looking up. What I didn’t like was a lack of specifics and the idea that he’s still part of the two-party system which has put us where we are today. (And no, even though I despise George W. Bush, I’m not going to simply blame him for all the world’s ills as many simpletons have.)

Just recently I’ve heard two news stories that make me think that a Ron Paul protest vote wasn’t such a bad idea after all. It also reinforces my view that neither of the two major political parties is any different from the other.

A few days ago, Obama’s pick for Commerce Secretary, Governor Bill Richardson, removed himself from consideration because he’s involved in a federal investigation for possible pay-to-play deals with a California business that donated a significant amount of money to Richardson. The company, CDR Financial Products, gave over $110,000 to three political committees formed by Richardson and they were then paid $1.48 million in 2004 and 2005 for transportation work.

CDR’s CEO David Rubin also gave over $30,000 to Obama’s campaign.

Neither the Democratic National Committee nor the Obama camp want to comment on it.

This morning I was perusing news headlines and came across a second piece of news that makes me wonder if we might see a few Bushian ideas left over at the Justice Department, even after the Bush cronies are out.

On Monday, Obama announced that his number three man at the Justice Department is going to be a lawyer who gets rave reviews from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which, according to their site, is “the trade group that represents the US recording industry” whose mission “is to foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes [their] members’ creative and financial vitality.”

In theory, this is wonderful. In fact, in theory this is something that I support 100 percent. I support creativity, financial vitality, ownership rights, private property rights, intellectual property rights, and copyright laws. Whenever I can, I make sure that both news articles and photographs are given full credit on my blog. I use material for educational and research purposes only and I don’t get paid squat to do any of this.

What I find hard to support, however, is the RIAA and their Bushian tactics. In 2005, the RIAA became famous for attempting to sue a West Virginian grandmother for sharing over 700 songs online. There were just a few problems with their accusations: not only was the woman dead, but it was discovered that even when she was living, she never owned a computer.

A few weeks ago the RIAA’s arrogance was noticed by ISPs when the RIAA told them that they want the ISPs to enforce copyright laws. The problem is that it’s not the ISPs’ job to enforce copyright laws and it costs a significant amount of money to even do such enforcement—money that the RIAA isn’t willing to pay. Thus, ISPs have begun sending the RIAA bills for doing any enforcement. Sadly, the RIAA’s attitude seems to be that of “Don’t you know who we are? You do what we say.”

Throughout the campaign, Obama delivered a message of hope, growth, change, and reform. Questionable campaign donations and corrupt politicians became commonplace when Republicans ran Congress and had Bush in the White House. Now we’re about to begin a Democrat-Democrat era in Washington and we’re already beginning to see ghosts of the 2001-2006 time period.

What will be interesting to see is how these things pan out and how they’re handled in terms of spin-control. It’s also going to be interesting to see if diehard Obama supporters will take a “throw the bums out” attitude toward things, or if they’ll take an “everyone does it” approach.

I certainly hope that it’s not the latter because Obama ran on the idea that not everyone does it. Unfortunately my realistic side thinks that when you see either an R or a D behind a person’s name, there’s a good chance that whatever it is, they will do it. They’ll also get the full support of those who voted for them.

References

Evans, Mark. “Donor to Commerce Nominee Being Probed.” ABC News. 16 Dec. 2008.

McCullagh, Declan. “Obama Picks RIAA’s Favorite Lawyer for a Top Justice Post.” CNET News. 6 Jan. 2009.

Mook, Nate. “RIAA Sues Deceased Grandmother.” Beta News. 4 Feb. 2005.

Rood, Justin. “Funds Tie Obama to Richardson Probe Figure.” ABC News. 6 Jan. 2009.

Sandoval, Greg. “One ISP Says RIAA Must Pay for Piracy Protection.” CNET News. 22 Dec. 2008.

RIAA. “Who We Are.”

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