the state of ambivalence

Tuesday was quite a busy day, if you think about it.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was confirmed and sworn in. The Senate also approved Ben Bernake to take over the Federal Reserve, replacing the iconic Alan Greenspan. Coretta Scott King, wife of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., died early Tuesday morning, (or late Monday night, Central Standard Time.) Add in President Bush's State of the Union address, and you've quite the cocktail of national/political events.

All I kept thinking about was the lyrics to a protest song off Metric's 2003 album, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? While the entire song, "Sussexy," is good, but two particular passages stuck out to me:

All we do is talk, sit, switch screens
As the homeland plans enemies

and

Passive attraction, programmed reaction
More information, cash masturbation
Follow the pattern - the hemlines, the headlines
Action distraction, faster than fashion
~Metric, "Sussexy"

I won't pretend to be an astute political mind. I read newspapers and have my opinions, but I still haven't claimed alligiance to a political party. I feel strongly about certain issues, but I've never felt confident enough to defend myself in a serious debate. That said, I really like those passages from "Sussexy." To me, they perfectly describe Americans' political attitudes.

The key word here is ambivalence. Americans are conflicted. Ideally, people want to invest themselves in the national political scene but, rationally, ignorance is simply easier. It seems an educated ignorance is the way to go - getting canned news and opinions from talking heads and editorials. More conflictions arise with that little bit of knowledge, though. Americans may have certain ideas about what sorts of policy the government should make, but their values and ideals don't always coincide. In otherwords, Americans will never be satisfied.

And I'm no different. But days like Tuseday make me wish I was.

Cheers.