Congratulations, Washington D.C. You have officially crushed my spirit.

The petty name-calling, vicious political advertisements and blatant disrespect of your opponents have left me speechless. It’s a good thing I’m nowhere near 18 because if I don’t see some big changes, I will be forced to do something I’ve never wanted to do: deny myself my basic right as an American and not vote.

I used to think people ran for office in order to better the country, to help people. I guess I was wrong. The recently finished race between Roy Blunt and Robin Carnahan for Senate is one of many examples of the over-dramatic, Disney Channel-esque movie that is our government. It doesn’t matter to me as a viewer how much you hate your adversary. Mr. Blunt, don’t run advertisements saying Robin Carnahan wants to slaughter senior citizens by slashing Medicare.  And Carnahan, would it kill you to refrain from referring to your opponent as “the very worst of Washington?” I’m not interested in who can burn the other the most. I want to know what your plan is to get us out of the mess we’re in.

Politics have turned into a game where the only rule is to make sure your opponent can’t win. The cruel irony is that we are fighting amongst ourselves.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “A house divided against itself will not stand.”

Maybe if Honest Abe was here right now, he could use his top hat to smack some sense into those in Washington.

The politicians we are expected to look up to have been behaving in manners more catty and juvenile than high schoolers. Seventy-four percent (213/287) of students believe our politicians are not good role models. How are student politicians supposed to look up to those in Washington when the adults are acting like children?

Joe Biden pretty much summed it up March 23, 2010, when he whispered to President Obama about the healthcare debate: it is a “big ‘effing’ deal.”