I am starting to like what the BC First party is saying. Chris Delaney is the leader pro tem (they haven’t actually chosen one yet). They officially ‘kick-off’ in April but they are basically a ‘shadow party’ now.

It is also the spawn of the devil, tho, since Vander Zalm played a part in it’s formation. He and Delaney were the ones doing the anti-HST work. Still, he is ‘out of the picture’ now, says Delaney and the party is attracting some pretty sane people.

Like, well, me……….maybe………kinda…………I dunno……

I confess to having been attracted to every party at one time or another. I grew up in an NDP household, liked the image of Pierre Trudeau, liked the blunt truth of John Crosby, thought the Reform Party (under Manning) was at least honest and joined the provincial Liberals when Gordon Wilson was the leader (because my brother was one of his ‘back room boys’ and he wanted me to, mostly).

I thought I found my ‘home-boys’ when the Greens came to the table but, despite trying to influence them in every way I could, they insist on doing things their own way. I hate that. Especially when their own way is just so bloody stupid.

So, BCF could be just another huge disappointment. I hope not. They seem to have most things right by my reckoning. And, to be fair, Delaney has incorporated some of my thoughts into their platform. Want my vote? Play to my ego, not my wallet. And he has. And I am leaning their way.

I have to also confess to wondering if it isn’t a fool’s enterprise, this political ‘system’, this pretense at democracy. It doesn’t seem to work. I’ve met a lot of good people trying their best and coming from every political stripe when doing so. And little changes. We are not very good at managing ourselves and even worse at appointing leaders to do it for us.

I’ve seen proven crooks (convicted ones, even) get re-elected and lead parties. I’ve met sleazy bastards, too, who are very charming and garner votes like poop does flies. I have even met decent people with whom I agree on most things but are so damn ineffectual that voting for them is a waste of time. And I have met dedicated, selfless saints who get ‘lost’ in the system or get lost following their own single-issue cause.

The good, the bad and the ugly can’t seem to put Humpty Dumpty right.

But, far and away, the most obvious-to-me flaw in the system is not the people running but the system itself. What the hell is the point of electing an MLA or MP (good, bad or ugly) who is forced by the system or by circumstance to dance lockstep in line with the leader’s personal wishes? How does that translate into ‘representation of the people?’ Isn’t that simply a process of regularly changing the dictator and his or her accompaniment of puppets?

I didn’t vote for Preston Manning (I would, tho. I like the guy). He ran in Alberta. I didn’t vote for Mike Harcourt (different riding). I like Mike, too. I didn’t vote for Wilson, Adrian Carr or any of those who, if they and their puppets won, would be the de facto despot. I have to vote for people who are in my neighbourhood and that circumstance alone has always translated into voting for a back-bencher who, for all measurable results, ends up accomplishing nothing but learning-by-rote the leader’s ‘speaking points’.

No one likes the system but, when the people were asked if they wanted to fix it (proportional representation vs first-past-the-post), they voted NO. How is that possible? The electorate manifests HUGE apathy based on a deep rejection of the system and they voted NO to changing it? That simply makes no sense to me.

And, ultimately, that is my point – politics no longer makes sense to me.

I don’t know whether to run, hide or vote. Or not to vote at all. I don’t know how to fix the broken system. I don’t like any part of what my vote supports. I like very few politicians except the ones I meet (isn’t that, in itself, a bit of a mystifying coincidence?). I am a fan of Alex Morton but advised her not to run (she asked her readers).

I am as confused as I can be over what is the right thing to do when it comes to supporting the system. I can vote yea or nay on any given issue but I can’t seem to find an unassailable position on the system – only that it is broken, can’t seem to be fixed and that we have no replacement.

And yes, that, too, is part of the reason for dropping out.