What I don’t understand about the USA

Today I want to write about something I have let’s say problems with, in the USA. Some might say it is a boring topic but I am really interested in it and it totally affects everyone. POLITICS! My girlfriend always tells me how boring German politics and German politicians are. This might be true. They don’t look and talk professional at all. In Germany being authentic is more important. One of the new members of the Berlin Parliament from the Piratenpartei, always wears a craftsman’s blue or orange overall. One reason they got elected was that they are so different and don’t act professional. To be honest I am not a voter and supporter of them. To say you don’t have an opinion on a matter because you don’t know anything about it might be honest but in my eyes this is not a reason to vote for someone. By the way the topic was the economy.

Politicians from the US look a bit like clones to me. The all have the same perfect haircut. Male politicians have modern looking suits and the ties match perfect. They present their perfect family in public with a perfect looking wife. Perfect, Perfect, Perfect!!! This is one of the problems I have with them. Everything is done so professional by the campaign team that I can’t see the real individual. It is too much Hollywood and not enough honesty.

Another thing is negative campaigning about the political opponent. I like Hillary Clinton (to be honest I would think she’d be a better president, ahh Germans love the Clintons). But do you remember the 3am add she had on TV during her presidential campaign? Why do you have to question the moral integrity of your opponent and don’t tell the people where you are good at. Why does Michelle Bachman have to run a campaign against Newt Gingrich being married 3 times. I don’t like him but would he be a worse president because he cheated on his wife and was married more than once. Is it better to show the public a wonderful family life but the truth is a cold and dead relationship like Al Gore, John Edwards and I guess so many more politicians did and do? In France being married more than once might be the thing to do if you want to have a chance to be elected. Also our former chancellor and secretary of state Gerhard Schröder and Joschka Fischer were both married 3 and 4 times. When they were in office a joke was told that they could never fly in one plane together because the state would go bankrupt to pay all the widows alimentations. As a European I don’t care about the private life of a politician. I want them to do the job they are elected for. If they are faithful to their partner or not, not my business!!!!

The biggest problem I have is the polarization of American politics. I am too young to tell if it was always like that. My girlfriend’s mother and her partner told me that it started with President Clinton. The Republicans hated him. Then the Democrats hated Bush and now the Republicans hate hate hate Obama. The term compromise does not exist in US politics anymore. That is so not to understand because everyone knows that life can just work with compromises. If you just stick to your position and you are not willing to give in a bit, well everything will break apart sooner or later. This is true in normal life but also in politics. There you need the moderates of both sides in the middle to run a country. I admit I watch Fox News sometimes just to get angry (do I have a pathological problem???) So often I could just scream because of the stupid nonsense they tell. To all republicans out there I am sorry in that case I am a wacky European liberal (just from your point of view) missing a gene to understand the radical tea party agenda. Radicalism destroys. I agree that you have to balance the budget but this is not the main concern of the tea party and their front runners like Michelle Bachman. They want Obama out of the White House. That is all they care about, not the economy, not the budget and not the American people. Enough said about politics and about the US. This blog is about my strange native land but I don’t really have to complain so much about it right now, so excuse my excursion to US politics.

German politics might be less exciting and less glamorous but sometimes boring is better.