Politics? No Thanks

So 9/11 came and went. Again. I saw a lot of folks tweeting various things about the event, memories, and the popular #wherewereyou hashtag. I abstained from it. Why? Because while I’m pretty open online, I rarely discuss politics. Online OR in real life. Much like religion (something else I don’t discuss much) it’s a very personal thing for me and not one I feel warrants a discussion. Also, my 9/11 story is uneventful to say the least.

If you’re wondering, here is why I don’t think much about where I was:

I was driving to work that morning, hung over from the night before. I threw up twice on a copy of the Wall Street Journal in my car at two red lights (sadly, this was not the first time that happened, nor would it be the last. I kept the WSJ in my car for that very reason). I was an hour late to work, and this particular hangover was so bad that I lasted 45 minutes at my desk before I called it quits and went home. I was so out of it, I didn’t even notice people listening to the radio and talking about what was going on. If my memory serves me correctly, the first plane had just hit when I showed up to work. The 2nd hit as I was leaving. When I got in my car, I put on some music and drove home. My brother called me and asked if I had seen what had happened. I replied “Umm…some dumbass crashed a plane in New York, right?”. Then he told me what happened. I felt….nothing. Nada. Maybe I was still drunk, I don’t know. But I went home and proceeded to get stoned out of my skull and watch the CNN loop of people running around and shit on fire. Well, that and cartoons. I switched back and forth.

So there ya have it. My amazing 9/11 story. Pretty inspiring, isn’t it? I didn’t write this to take anything away from what happened that day. It was a fucking horrible event and I feel for those who lost loved ones. But this isn’t about 9/11.

So why do I rarely write / tweet about politics? A few reasons.

• I think the entire system is fucked
• I believe most people are set in their beliefs and aren’t looking to be persuaded otherwise, rather, just want to argue
• Most people look for information that validates what they already believe, not the other way around
• It does nothing beneficial for me

For the most part, I’ve stopped following politics completely. It makes me visibly angry at times, and generally frustrated all the of the time. As sad as it may sound, I simply don’t care anymore. Yes, I still pay attention to issues. I still vote. And I still care about the country. But I don’t care about politics, and I have no interest in furthering the divide. Talk to me about WordPress (except the GPL issue, which has become political). Wanna chat about music? Fuck yeah, bring it on. How about weird shit? I’m game. But I don’t give a shit about what John Boehner said about anything. Nor do I care what Harry Reid thinks. I just don’t. Just today, some random person tweeted me saying I was a ‘moron liberal’ for no reason whatsoever. I responded by telling them to die in a fire. Just seemed appropriate.