08

I am taking this opportunity for a short political rant about the state of affairs in our society today. I have touched briefly upon my distaste for "celebrity" politicians, and the tendency of journalists and consumers alike to be fascinated with gossip and rumor. I read an article on CNN.com's political ticker that was simply about the fact that Wesley Clark, an ex-four star general who had considered running for the Presidency in 2004 has "endorsed" Hillary Clinton. Personally, I am thoroughly confused as to who would care about this. What purpose is served by this? People in this country need to learn to form their own opinions by using the facts that are given to them. They should not care about who likes who, or who endorses who. There is no substance behind Clark's favor of Clinton either. According to the article, Clark said, ""She'll be a great leader for the United States of America, and I think she'll be a great commander in chief for the men and women in the armed forces." ... So? It was funny for me to read the comments of users underneath the article, because many reflected my sentiments. John from Longview, TX wrote, "just say someone will be good for the country, and well, shoot, let's forget the election and just declare her president. what a joke."
But to clarify, it is not just Clark's endorsement that bothers me, it's endorsements in general. Last week, I read an article about Oprah endorsing Barack Obama and I wondered the same thing. Millionaire Jeff Lamberti recently announced that he would be endorsing John McCain.
In my research, I found an interesting article which discusses the actual meaning of endorsements and how politicians have either succeeded or failed because of them. Perhaps our coverage of endorsements is a strange social phenomena. Perhaps it needs to be changed so that we can focus our energies on deciphering who is the most qualified, instead of engaging in a high-school type popularity contest....