On Politics in the New Year

Despite the election being over, and the fact that I have almost quit paying attention to the news as a result, my liberal friends are as vocal, vindictive, and argumentative as ever. My conservative friends all seem to be in a state of despair these days.

My personal opinion is that nothing will really change post election. We'll see a slight alteration of the spin, for a time, but that too will pass.

The Republicans want us to live in fear. The Democrats want us to be in a constant state of angst. Amongst the clatter of divisive voices no rational sound is heard. The media throws gasoline on every ember, feeding us nibbles while trying to convince us that we are getting a full meal, punctuated by advertisers who clearly believe we are all idiots. The only way to be heard above the noise is to make a more outrageous claim than the next person.

My liberal, progressive friends have been telling me for the last eight years that our president is a Nazi, intent on creative a religious theocracy, shredding the constitution at every turn. When I remind them that this did not happen, they change the subject. My conservative friends tell me that liberals are intent on creating a communist workers paradise. I guess we'll have to wait and see on that one. What I have observed over the last ten years is that if you're interested in politics, the betterment of the human condition, social issues, anything other than celebrity gossip and sports then you must be an irrational, raving, frothing lunatic to be avoided. Hopefully this entry won't put me in that category!

The American media is an endless parade of politicians, pundits, and so called experts dredged up from who knows where sharing their distinct lack of expertise in the subject of the day while they explain to ordinary folks like you and me what to think. Have we succumbed to a kind of collective idiocy, an ignorance induced stupor where we ponder over inane sound bytes edited together on You Tube or repeated over and over on the news channels? It sure seemed that way during the election frenzy. Did you hear these claims, think about them for a minute, and realize how ridiculous they are? Do you occasionally find yourself yelling at the TV? Happens in my house all the time.

Would you make a good candidate for brainwashing? Do you never question the motivations of people?

Are you tired of bias, spin, advocacy journalism, innuendo and being talked down to? Have you abandoned all hope of a rational discussion of anything? Reading Internet news sites, do you find the Reader's Comments to be more well informed than the articles? I do.

Are you sick of earmarks, add ons, and thousand page epistles of legislation so watered down that they accomplish nothing except to pay bribes, and are filled with unintended consequences that last for years? I am.

Are you upset over endless government "solutions" that turn out to be a handouts to industry? Do you understand the truth about all political things is that they boil down to fights how to give away your money? This is really getting under my skin these days.

Do believe that both the left and the right have some value, and that there is hope for America? Do believe that it is time for the hatred, lies, and propaganda being spewed by both sides, encouraged by the media... to end?

I believe that Social Media is our best hope to restore common sense to our political system. I get my news from Twit scoop now. Do you?