I Question the Political Establishment

Why do Iowans caucus?
Why are they the only ones who do this?
When did they start doing this?
Why do we allow them to continue doing this?
After listening to so many overly-respective, 'never lose our intellectual curiosity' NPR stories about the Iowa caucus process: how it works, what it means if you show up at 7:01 pm instead of 7 pm (you are shut out), and how folksy Iowans take it so seriously; it was SO refreshing to hear my rock radio station DJ say, in between songs by the Stone Roses and Arcade Fire, "the Iowans are starting their odd political process tonight, which has gotten way too much attention from the media."
I feel so annoyed that we let the Iowans tell us who we can vote for later. (All respect to the one friend I have from Iowa.)
They aren't like me!
They don't represent me!
They picked Mike Huckabee!!!
I'm honestly so glad that Obama was trying to draw out the college students in Iowa; I can only hope that a lot of Grinnell students came back early from break to offer a point of view near my own.
I hate being excluded from important decisions.