PARTY LINES, A GOOD RIDE and THE MEDIA
A large part of this past election was the media. Depending on the cable station they seemed to travel along party and TV lines. Now most of you understand "PARTY LINES". No, no, no, not the white powder so fashionable in Hollywood and ghettos.
These party lines are invisible and blind loyalty to either Republican Propaganda or Democratic Propaganda. Whether you like smaller government and less services or obviously more government with more services provided you say nothing other than the current party line. This is blind loyalty at its best.
Sort like in the roller coaster business, you pay to get in. Now you are strapped safely in your seat and you are ready for the ride of your life. Now after the initial excitement of being chosen, you have told all your friends, relatives, hair stylist and co workers all about what you heard and believed.
All the aspirations and perspirations of what truly will make this country whole again and you are part of the team. You are on track just like you hope the coaster is. You are part of the group. You paid 80 dollars a day for this big chance.
Did you ever wonder after the big exciting trip up the hill, when you see the next step if this didn't require a little more thinking? Because you are committed, no turning back now, just a bunch of ups and downs, a few cuban eights and barrel rolls and you think its over, till the kids say, "lets do it again daddy".
It says you support your candidate whether he or she is a moron, a thief, or totally inept at the job and this electoral season had a dose of just about everything except clap. We did not have any cases of clap. Well, no reported cases of clap, lots of Doctors in Congress helping a fellow out if needed. Doctors yes, protecting the health care system fighting every change. Other than clap, just about everything else. It was apparent on both sides. Morons galore, thieves at every corner, pandering, sleeping with staff, and lots of LIES and ineptness beyond belief.
Whether you support the Republican or Democrat party either side has great and noble ideals and ideas. Skillfully presented to us in speeches ad nauseam. After the speeches, both sides in reality return to and are producers of mediocre performance, bi-partisan bickering, lying, cheating, stealing, and other bureaucratic opportunistic tendencies. We call it POLITICS. But they each have their individual styles and it depends on what coaster you pick.
POLITICAL FOOTBALL
The Democrats have a problem articulating themselves. Republicans can play the blame game better while the Democrats haven’t figured the rule book out. Democrats will lose much of what they gained by not knowing the rules and not fighting back. The Republicans just don't follow them.
The Republicans who know more about shooting oneself in the foot or face (Cheney proved that with lawyer friend) should shut up and just let the other guys shoot themselves. Right now the biggest problem for the Republicans is that they have nobody who is competent, since they shot each other.
THE TV LINES
Most of the Republican agenda is led by the likes of Limbaugh, Cavuto, Susteren, Hannity, and Beck, the critically wise men and women of FOX news. It’s not hard to become a critic, you just complain all the time.
You don’t need answers, nor solutions, you just complain and lie and snipe, and amend, and have more fluff than a drag convention. This is the gang that plays the TV lines. You vote for the celebrity TV “mouth of the month”. We have ditto heads, pinheads, great Americans, worse people and a host of other professional entertainment phrases who slant just about everything but the room they are in. These are for the ratings party. Follow the money.
The connection is MONEY. Ratings are how certain shows and printed media survive. And the media this election really did take sides to literally make news about nothing as long as it made ratings. It really did show its colors. It's been a long twenty months since my interests changed from following sports events on the local and national scale and I slowly became interested or is it addicted to "POLITICS".
We worry about steroids in sports, and pay no attention to crooks we elect. ROME is alive and well and in the declining stages. Meanwhile Huckabee plays on, he's not bad on Bass, but I can't stand Evangelicals in Politics. I'll change my tune when I see Jesus or Moses on the ballot. Keep religion out of politics, remember the Church and State.
Sports and Politics share some similarities. Both usually involve two teams, sometimes exchanging mortal and highly defamatory comments. Don’t think for a second those NFL lineman share cake-baking recipes before the ball is snapped. They share tender thoughts about each other Moms.
In addition, there is the well-practiced goal line choreography, ball spinning, end zone leaping, planning, practice, coaching, screaming, yelling profanities and the occasional cheap shot all meant for and in the good nature of the game to taunt. They also produce a winner and a loser. See, Sports and Politics are similar!
This media driven race to say the least it has been interesting, controversial, frustrating, addictive and at times drew emotions out of me that were totally uncharacteristic of my makeup. This has been one of, if not the longest elections in American history and though on many occasions I vented about the length of it, the wait was worth it.
COVERING MEDIA
I covered the GOP side during 2010 and was privileged to attend, but tired quickly from trekking to the rally sites from the distanced parking just to hear the same BS, I heard at the last stop. Sometimes three in a day. Same tired jokes and acting 101 with fake emotion and tailspin. These “stump pumps” were like cheerleader competition events, more like and similar to the choreographed ones Chairman Mao so eloquently put together.
But the chairman, the Chairman Mao had a different approach. He had larger turnouts…he simply had more Chinese made AK47's from Watsawok Factory Seven. So why cover all three? The crowd, the unexpected is the news. And something tragic or out of the ordinary is news and happens. Look at Congresswoman Giffords.
Many of these folks went for whatever was offered hook, line and the anchor from the Titanic. I grew tired of Palin, she reminded me of someone I once dated. “Bitch, bitch, bitch”. That romance didn't last too long. She had pre-planned rhetoric, “gospelized’ niche phrases and was lying or stretching at the same time. Boy, was she enamored with herself. There were mistruths and assignations, lots of spin and snips. Unfortunately for McCain, he didn’t get annulled in time.
This wasn't preaching to the choir, this was bringing the choir with you. The bits of excitement like the bit with Joe the Plumber, whether it was fully planned or seeded (yes) became the battle cry of those so far to the right, they never make left turns in their cars. Back to the septic tanks Joe.
And the first family of Alaska proved to be as exciting as that crew from Beverly Hills Hillbillies. It came back to haunt McCain and his chances for election when the little slips came out.
SEARCH FOR TRUTH
Its progressive, the electoral process. I admit, it really got to me. I became a political/media/constitutional junkie. I found the game addicting. I studied the candidate's rhetoric and wondered on occasion how some of them got there.
But, the one good thing I learned was objectivity. For every statement, I heard I researched it. I went to the actual source and found much of what was said was distorted and twisted. I guess it changed me in the sense that the quest for the truth became almost an obsession. And it had its cost. I might have lost friends because I grew tired of hearing them repeat the party lines and lies. Party loyalty, status quo, prejudice, fear, mostly fear, and failure all contributed to the decision.
Many will say this election took too long, and admired the British who only allow six weeks of distortion before they elect a winner. They have another custom I like, They carry out executions 30 days after a positive (very) conviction. Now I call that taking out the garbage.
In this case it gave the time for the truths to come out. There were too many slogans, too many forums and blogs, too many pundits and panhandlers. It was sporadic, dabbled in false idolatry, and some of the supposed journalist's, talking heads, and former losers filling the channels of CNN, FOX, MSNBC all day long at times should have been gagged. “Day in day out” and that bias for the improvement or good of this nation, no, it was bias for ratings.