# Politics: love it or hate it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 2, 2008, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174 "2008-10-02T14:48:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/1 "2008-10-02T14:48:07Z")
There is a thread on ATMB regarding the desire for an “All politics, all the time” forum here. Perusing that made me curious as to how many people are political junkies and how many are otherwise. How about it, folks? Do you live and breathe politics, have you endured all the political claptrap to last your lifetime, or somewhere in between? For my part, I loathe it. To me, politics is like raw sewage: it is important that it be taken care of properly, but it smells bad and you don’t want to get any of it on you. RR ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/2 "2008-10-02T14:49:20Z")
I love studying politics, just like I love studying religion. It’s the actual execution IRL of such things that makes me ill and makes me sick unto death. I very much enjoy reading about complicated political machinations o even watching movies but when it happens in real life it just troubles me. ---
**Author:** ![Frustrated\_Wonderer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a4c791/32.png) [@Frustrated\_Wonderer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frustrated_Wonderer)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/3 "2008-10-02T14:55:06Z")
I like Politics on election time, and when important international events are happening. But other than that, I´m rather apathetic towards politics, except with the “war on drugs” issue. I know it was designed that way, but Congress is just to darn slow to work properly. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/4 "2008-10-02T14:56:44Z")
I hate politics. I’d like a politics forum, because I hate politics. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/5 "2008-10-02T15:36:33Z")
Hate it. I try to follow the issues, because I’m “supposed” to - but it bores the living crap out of me. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/6 "2008-10-02T15:37:19Z")
Neither. There are times I get fed up with it and during those times I vigorously tune it out, which is really not THAT hard. I can’t say there are times I love it, but there’s more than enough to be interested in. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/7 "2008-10-02T15:47:38Z")
I love it. I am passionately interested in electoral rules, agenda setting, legislative procedure, and the constant strategic problems politicians face. I would be thrilled by a politics forum. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/8 "2008-10-02T17:49:18Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I love studying politics, just like I love studying religion. It’s the actual execution IRL of such things that makes me ill and makes me sick unto death. Ditto here. I follow it obsessively and can talk about it for hours, but I would never be able to get directly involved. I even hate playing office politics. I, personally, am too direct. I can not and will not lie to people, even by omission or careful misdirection. I don’t manipulate people. I’d never be able to get into it firsthand. But watching it, thinking about it, analyzing it, debating it… can’t get enough. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/9 "2008-10-02T17:54:06Z")
Politics Is Life. Everything else is…less than that. Of course, I _teach_ American Government and Economics, so I’m a bit biased. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/10 "2008-10-02T17:54:31Z")
I’m only ever interested in politics before a presidential election. The rest of the time, it’s just some knucklehead in office making decisions I often don’t agree with (regardless of which party is in office), driven by a need to satisfy his or her constituents so that he or she can stay in office and reap the benefits of the power that comes with it. I’d love a dedicated political forum. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/11 "2008-10-02T18:05:18Z")
I hate talking politics with anyone who takes it seriously in any way. As long as we both agree that politics is the problem and not the solution, I can usually have some fun. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/12 "2008-10-02T18:54:35Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > Hate it. I try to follow the issues, because I’m “supposed” to - but it bores the living crap out of me. Me too. I don’t understand much of it, and I get irritated when I listen to people who are (IMO) speaking in vague or general terms. I’m more interested in politics at this moment than I ever have been before (can’t believe I actually want to see that debate tonight!) and the vote I’m casting in this election is my first. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/13 "2008-10-02T19:21:56Z")
I’m interested in politics because it will affect my life in many ways, but am also frustrated at all the asshattery and selfishness out there. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/14 "2008-10-02T20:28:06Z")
“Philosophers have interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.” – Karl Marx Can’t do that without a serious set of politics. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/15 "2008-10-03T00:43:11Z")
I love politics, it is nothing less than trying to decide how we should order our lives, and deciding what is important to us. Politics touches on every type of human endeavor, what’s not to love about it? ---
**Author:** ![phil417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@phil417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phil417)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/16 "2008-10-03T00:55:57Z")
[quote=“RiverRunner, post:1, topic:466174”] There is a thread on ATMB regarding the desire for an “All politics, all the time” forum here. Perusing that made me curious as to how many people are political junkies and how many are otherwise. Years ago I had a supervisor who opined that “politics” was the dirtiest word in the English language. Currently, I agree. Love, Phil ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/17 "2008-10-03T01:03:48Z")
I eat polls for lunch. (I have Pop-Tarts, pretzel sticks, Red Vines, and painkillers for breakfast.) ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/18 "2008-10-03T01:11:30Z")
I hate politics. Once someone’s elected to Political office they tend to stop giving a shit what the people who elected them actually think, and all the in-fighting is tedious bullshit because they’re all as bad as each other anyway. I don’t want to hear about politics _ever_, unless it’s in relation to a real, tangible issue which directly affects me. Since 90% of politics doesn’t, I don’t want to hear about it, and I believe we are so far overdue for a Politics Forum that it’s almost as if someone in charge _likes_ tormenting those of us who hate politics by allowing the proliferation of political threads in every smegging forum on the boards. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/19 "2008-10-03T01:21:23Z")
I have great respect for the people whose job it is to run a country, or even a town. But I hate politics. That is, the underhanded double-crossing two-faced corruptive lies and empty promises that are endemic to Governmental rule. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174/20 "2008-10-03T02:42:41Z")
I’m quite into politics, but hate what it does to people. Especially me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-love-it-or-hate-it/466174.md?page=2)