Politics 2010 - Words of Hope and Cheer

This political season has exacerbated my cynicism about politics and the American public more than a little. The political ads all appeal to the worst in people, they attach their opponents, they distort or present out and out falsehoods. But who are we to complain? Politicians simply reflect the general nature of the American public today, which by any and almost all accounts is less knowledgeable, more apathetic, more reliant on others to think for them, more susceptible to simplest thinking and simple answers, and therefore more easily exploited. Buzzwords and slogans are substituted for serious discourse, and as a result we get what we deserve, so that just when we think things can sink no lower, people arrive upon the scene to lower the bar some more. Politics is about selling you a product from a particular ideological manufacturer, and unfortunately at present we only have two, the Dimbulbocrats and the GnopeP, neither of which is fielding any awe inspiring candidates this season, especially here in Lincolnland. How appalling to hear so many candidates railing away about freedoms as they promise to take yours away. How galling to hear policies and programs criticized by people who offer no alternative or workable solutions. Truly if ever we needed the NOTA it is now. None Of The Above has a chance of winning many races this election, too bad they aren’t on the ballot.