I feel detached these days. Election day is approaching and the absurdity of our political system is never more apparent then at the time of an election. We live in a fantasy world where nothing is real. We are bombarded with news twenty-four hours of every day. The news is recycled from the tabloids known for their indiscretion and questionable bending of the truth. Political operatives spend hour after hour twisting and bending the facts to give us a less than honest appraisal of their candidates and the oppositions. Issues are made up based on the electorate's predilections.
The new twist is the old twist. The so called mavericks have come upon the scene with their mouths open wide spewing anti government slogans and attesting to their “common man” leanings. Their rise can be attributed to the fact that government is in shambles. After eight years of dishonest thuggery, we have a president who tried to be all things to all people. He attempted to be the great compromiser while the other side declared on his election day victory that they were not going to do anything to help. Right wing blabber mouths with unlimited air time questioned his very status as a citizen. The irony of all this patriotic opposition was that the country had fallen into a hole of debt and not one of these so called intellectuals was concerned with helping to right the ship of state. All the right did with the help of their minions of revisionists was to launch broadside after broadside making it nearly impossible to give any sense of accomplishment to the new president. The smug blonds and the overweight loud mouths came forth with their witty asides twisting facts and history to serve their rhetoric of hate.
In all this fight for the “common man” we must be honest and state unequivocally that it is a fight for the “common white man.” Racism is alive and well. These tea party folks are the “no nothings” of this age. They are against government for all the people though they will defend with all their might the government that they receive. They are characters out of Twain's Huckleberry Finn who detest educated black men. They are lead around by their noses by folks with dishonorable intentions. They listen to the shrill call of the wild. They are bound by the illusion that they are the real voice of America. The sad fact is the real voice of America is somewhat tainted by a history steeped in racism and jingoistic fervor that serve the top one percent who hold a disproportionate share of the wealth of the nation.
The nation watches reality shows that are concocted in the minds of simpletons who want us to believe they are real. People are paraded before us as celebrities when their only claim to such status is their appearance on a medium that has evolved into a P T Barnum side show. They are freaks of a medium that is too adept at changing reality and whose main intent is to get the unsuspecting buyer to purchase a pill that will do whatever age and diet has robbed them off.
Our elections are a reflection of our society. Bombast is the language of these times; dishonesty the underlying principle. The common man is swayed by the tides of their fears. All too many await deliverance from those who will twist words to serve their ends. Carnival barkers abound ushering us to a side show that will never meet the build up. We will learn again that, in the end, it is all about power. And the sad reality was first observed by a Lord Acton in the 1800's, Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
