The other day I was walking through North Adams with a friend and we saw signs up for Martha Coakley. She asked me my thoughts, to which I responded quickly and decisively by saying, "Huh?"
Because in spite of the huge amounts of press surrounding Ted Kennedy's death and the subsequent special election to fill his senate seat, I had somehow failed to pay attention enough to know that one of the candidates for the seat was from North Adams. And as we walked by, I couldn't help but wonder if I was neglecting my citizenal responsibility by not keeping up on politics.
I used to pay very close attention to the news. I would read the Transcript, The Eagle, the Penguin, The Washington Post, the USA Today, the USA Yesterday, Canada Tomorrow, and the backs of any cereal boxes I had lying around. (Breaking news: More corn syrup!)
In addition, I'd also read lots of political blogs to see different people's opinions on the current events, because nothing says "well-informed" like knowing what random people typing on the Internet think of Iran's military.
I would even watch news on TV, at least insofar as The Daily Show can be considered news. But a few years ago, I did some soul searching. I couldn't find a soul, which was probably my own fault for working in a cubicle for five years. But what I did find was the the cost-benefit analysis of keeping up with the news was no longer worth it for me. It cost me time and mental energy, not only to digest and understand
The benefits, on the other hand, were almost non-existent. It was very rare that I was able to say my life was in any way improved by being up to date on the news, aside from occasionally being able to feel smart by telling people all the important things going on that they didn't know about.
And I certainly wasn't able to do much to prevent foreign wars, racism, economic collapse and large natural disasters. All my knowledge ended up being mostly useless, a feeling that had become familiar to me after graduating with a degree in liberal arts.
Oddly enough, the 2008 presidential election was one of the few times I have ever carefully considered all the candidates and come to the conclusion that it was important that I go out and vote to make a difference.
So I went out and I voted for Barack Obama, mainly because the good John McCain from the year 2000 had been replaced by an evil robot with a beautiful but crazy girl as a sidekick. (Who, although I would not want them running my country, would be perfect as the stars of a Japanese animated film.)
Unfortunately, Obama has disappointed me on a few levels. Too much business as usual seems to be taking place under his administration, ranging from massive federal funding for those who deserve it least (Wall Street bailouts), the continuing pouring of American money and lives down a foreign quagmire drain (Afghanistan) and way too many commercials in the movie theaters before the feature actually starts (technically it's taking place while he's president, so I blame him for it).
Being president is tricky. It probably requires a constant stream of news in order to keep up with relevant knowledge on so many topics. Even if I would make better decisions than Obama in regards to Internet regulation (Net Neutrality: Yes. TelCos deciding who gets to make full use of the Internet: No.), I'm definitely not equipped to make military decisions. I'm not even very good at Risk or Axis & Allies.
I'd want a team presidency where I'd be the president of Internet, and there would be a president of military, a president of finance, a president of movie trailers and a president of heart. And by their powers combined, we'd summon Captain President to save the day.
Until then, though, I'll just be a citizen -- and not even a very good one at that.
Seth Brown is an award-winning humor writer, the author of "Rhode Island Curiosities," and is going to bring pollution down to zero. His work appears weekly in the Transcript and weakly on his Web site, www.RisingPun.com.
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