galavanting through the gutters on either side of the street

I'm going to perhaps state the obvious here.

I'm pro same sex marriage. I'm also for more funding of education and am a strong supporter of universal medicine, as well as for restructuring the global economy and reigning in multinational corporations. I vote NDP.

Wait, hold up, press the delete key if this wasn't just a rhetorical device. That last one doesn't belong, I'm not talking about politics.

Political issues are how to spend the surplus, debt payments, foreign policy (within reason, whether a nationalized energy company would serve the public better. In essence, political issues are how the run the country, public servants--and I know this is a radical suggestion--doing something that even resembles serving the public.

So why isn't same sex marriage a political issue? I mean, there are votes about it and Stephen Harper gets that charming little vein in his forehead every time he says "civil union". It is not the business of politicians because it is not the business of any of us. To paraphrase Dolly Parton, what Adam and Steve get up to behind closed doors is no concern of yours unless you'r e in there with them. It has nothing to do with running the country, and would have absolutely no impact except for the fact that people insist on talking about it.

Issues like this, or other fundamental rights like education and access to health care, are hijacked by special interest groups on both sides of the political spectrum in order to win or maintain power. Whipping up controversy is the surest way to gain votes, especially when it demonizes the other side. Alternatively, there are many people who seek the unfairly and unethically profit from such issues and by bringing it up in a political context the situation is more easily manipulated.

Many people seem to forget that no matter who wins the election, the other side doesn't go away, that is to say we all run the country together, and each party just gets to take turns wearing the big boy pants. Politics is supposed to be a reasoned discussion on the best course for the people, not about the profit or advantage of select groups. I'm sick of being lied to and the real issues being distracted from. The citizenry is stuck in the middle of a smoke and mirrors funhouse that prevents anything from actually getting done--just feigned moral outrage and unnecessary invasions for the purposes of media spin. So don't worry about Adam and Steve, they're the least of our worries.