Electoral junkies

I think it’s time that I publicly admitted a terrible habit. It’s practically an addiction, and we all know that the first step in recovery is admitting that one has a problem.

I follow American electoral politics. Late at night, when no one is around to see my shame, I browse political blogs and news sites, desperate to get my fix. I scrounge the Internet for the latest information on the candidates.

I have a sick desire to know the latest inanity spouted by Rick Santorum, the freshest insult hurled at Mitt Romney by Newt Gingrich, the newest promise sworn to the American people by President Barack Obama.

Most shamefully, I even watch clips from “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report,” eager to laugh along with other political junkies.

I know that many of you share my addiction.

This opinion page and a thousand others like it are routinely filled with passionate rants and supposedly level-headed analyses of the candidates and their campaigns.

We have three cable news channels and hundreds of websites that can quench our thirst for electoral gossip at any time of day.

Some of us wear our addictions with pride, loudly proclaiming ourselves to be well-informed and able to argue the finer points of the primary system in public, while others of us are more discreet and wait for our roommates to fall asleep before we surreptitiously open a dozen tabs full of partisan blogs.

Some political junkies, like myself, recognize that electoral politics are a game and an addiction. When we talk about the candidates, we often discuss narratives, because that’s exactly what we’re being given.

The media does everything it can to present the election as tense, drama-filled and of paramount importance. But these are just narratives with little relation to reality.

The truth is that there is little practical difference between the political parties and their candidates. None of these rich men are promising to remove the boot of Wall Street from the people’s neck.

Even liberal President Barack Obama has prosecuted fewer instances of financial crime than Reagan and both Bushes.

None of them are offering to end the decade long slaughter of the Afghan people. For all his talk of a draw-down, Obama has more than doubled the number of U.S. soldiers occupying Afghanistan.

Like any addiction, electoral politics is more dangerous for those who won’t admit they have a problem. Many political junkies are convinced they’re well-informed citizens who are doing their part to craft a better tomorrow. They’ve chosen their candidate and will argue incessantly on his or her behalf.

But political junkies who support either party are completely missing the point. Real human lives are being destroyed every day by the policies shared by both parties.

Sixteen Afghans, including nine children, were slaughtered in their homes while Americans idly chuckled at Rick Santorum.

These are only the latest casualties of the War on Terror, which has claimed almost a million lives and ruined countless more. The next time you’re watching “The Daily Show” or reading a CNN article, remember that no vote will bring those children back.

­— atcrane@indiana.edu