I saw Hillary Clinton speak at the Learning Corridor. She

depressed me. I thought that she may be able to excite a crowd. Nope. Really

sad. Whatever, my whole family went to Yale, and they’re all boring, so maybe

it’s not her fault.

            This was my

first time witnessing a presidential candidate speak first-hand. She did not

say anything more than any educated and intelligent person would. Coming out of

the rally, I was pondering the caliber of our recent presidents. I feel like,

at best, our presidents since JFK have been mediocre. Jimmy Carter did try, but

he failed horribly, much too idealistic.

            Are our

standards for American presidents set low? Do we, or any generation close to

mine, really know what it’s like to have a model president? I’m frustrated. I

was thirteen years old and protesting the Iraq war in my History class my

freshman year in high school. I protested so much and said so many things that

people thought were unpatriotic, that the principle pulled me aside in the

hallway and demanded that I tone myself down.

            How did a

thirteen year old foresee the same problems we have today? Was Vietnam and Korea not an indicator enough? Are

our senators truly corrupt? It didn’t take much sagacity for me to see all the

logistical problems with the war. Why is Barack Obama anything special?

Shouldn’t every president show us the hope and promise he does?

            Or has our

country become a pessimistic world of self-proclaimed ‘realists’ that downplay

positive speculation and have to see the possibilities for defeat rather than success.

There was a time when being a Senator or Congressman was an honor. Now, it’s

the punch line for a joke. What caused the demeaning of our truest servants,

the ones on Capitol Hill? Perhaps, it’s because we can’t trust them. We don’t

know who to trust. Who’s spinning what, and why.

            I’m tired

of spin. I’m tired of filibuster. I’m tired of fear. I’m tired of reactionary

government, rather than decisive government. Our Trade Center

was bombed in 1994, why didn’t Bill Clinton declare war after that attack? He

would have had exactly the same reasons then as Bush did in 2001. Even Bill

didn’t impress me. I don’t care if every man is horny - you’re job on Capitol

Hill is to better a country, not calm your hormones. Taxes aren’t paid for

sexual gratification.

            We should

be the staple of honor, the symbol of prudence, the benchmark for success, the

reaper of ingenuity, the calling for the winded, the gavel of justice. There

was a day when our country stood against slavery, a day when we crossed the

seas to bring an end to genocide, a day when we drafted a constitution that is

the model for every other democratic constitution written, a day when the

people truly cared. Today, we can’t get immigrant workers citizenship, instead

leaving those immigrants in shacks and citizens without jobs. Today, we wage

war when the rest of the world disagrees, and show them just how right they

were. Today, the constitution has become a set of guidelines, to be followed at

the president’s discretion. Today, apathy has taken the place of passion.

            But, what

will always be true is that there is also a tomorrow. Tomorrow, we can improve

and progress. Tomorrow, we can vote. Tomorrow, we can speak. Tomorrow, we can

make this nation for and by us. We can tax the rich, and give to the poor. We

can respond quickly to natural disasters. We can provide our schools with the

funding to succeed. We can subsidize our energy sources and become energy

independent and green. We can strengthen our police forces with the resources

they need. We can bring our troops home and honor our veterans. We live in the

moment, but we work for the future.

PS Check out Super Tight, UGKs '94 album, RIP Pimp C