The Bullshit Paradox

 

               My oh my, it is hard to imagine that there was ever a time when more bullshit ruled in the course of an election  then what we are seeing this cycle.   Even though the history of this country is marked by an almost pathological disposition for candidates to wallow in the mud and to lie through their teeth to get to their asses elected, it would seem in this era of television bullshit has soared to new heights.  Spin masters and the candidates themselves have perfected the art of bullshit.  In essence one simply keeps bullshiting even in the face of serious questions or facts.  There really should be no surprise when we discover we have idiots, thieves, degenerates and other disreputable characters passing laws.  To make matters worse our elected idiots then appoint their ilk to seats on the Supreme Court.  It is a wonder this grand experiment in democracy hasn’t blown up before now.  Given the fact that the news room has been converted to a beauty salon reduces our ability to get an honest reporting of the election.  For the most part, all we get are talking heads mouthing bullshit in an attempt to convey the essence of debates.  One cannot watch a single partisan spokesperson explain something without being bombarded with bullshit.  From ignoring reality to just plain lying, we see air time being devoted to bullshit.  Which leads me to the conclusion that we should have political debates conducted in a muddy pig pen and let the candidates have at each other.

               I am a Democrat, have been and will always be one.  Therefore, I find Republican bullshit more distasteful than Democratic bullshit.  I guess I like to think of myself as a man who believes in honest science.  I say honest because there are a whole bunch of dumbbells out there who think science is picking out select passages of Scripture and proclaiming truisms based on stuff written when people still believed the earth was the center of the universe. Now some will say that is a mischaracterization of the Republican Party.  Well, if you hear pronouncements from idiots, like Aiken of Missouri or West of Florida and don’t disavow yourself from them, well, birds of a feather flock together.  Sure I pity a true conservative who has watched his party taken over by folks who defy the characterization that homo sapiens are a rational species.

               This brings me to the current election and this pairing of Romney and Ryan.  With Romney we have a man who will say anything to get elected to whatever office he is running for.  If he is running in a liberal state, well, he espouses liberal positions.  If he is running for the nomination of a party taken over by crazies, well, he espouses the crazies’ position.   He is truly an etch a sketch candidate.  I don’t want to get into his religion, but the whole premise of Mormonism tends to fall into the category of all religions but with a somewhat modern twist, (modern being a historical reference).  Being a Mormon, there is creed to make the world a better place, and I might ask for whom?  What is scary is that the dude is a bishop; now shouldn’t a bishop walk around with something to signify him as a bishop.  A bishop is a serious dude with a serious vow.  I guess Mormons need to go underground or something unlike the Catholics who prance around in gowns and funny hats.  What I am asking is shouldn’t people who have this tie to a specific hierarchy identify themselves and detail his pastoral duties?  Maybe he is mandated by church cannon to turn over all of the nation’s vital statistics so the church can baptize everyone, living or dead.  The elders did do that with Jews who died in concentration camps.

               As for Ryan, he is a person who has embraced ever neocon position, every tea party tenet, and every evangelical aspiration.  He is the poster child of the “no nothings” who parade themselves as patriots, who haven’t a clue of what the world is about or if they do they choose to ignore it.

               Obama is plagued by bullshit as well.  In the second debate, he couldn’t answer many of the questions directly preferring to use the opportunity to skew his opponent.  It seems more important to stay on message than to be genuine.  That the man was at least conscious in this debate spoke volumes to how these candidates are packaged and programmed.  Hell it is like both are Manchurian candidates. 

               Well, time is rapidly approaching when the partisan bullshit will end, and the country can get back to its steady diet of bullshit offered by a whole economy designed around selling stuff, from erections to aluminum siding, from drugs to reality shows.  That a company can spill millions of gallons of oil and then tell us it is working on the environment, to beer commercials touting the benefits of alcoholism among the young, to car companies showing youth how to kill themselves driving too fast, our 21^st century society is a society functioning within an economic system that thrives in a world where truth is relegated to “positions” and it is mandatory that bullshit be given equal time.  Of course, if the folks who bullshit can afford it, they can have all the time their money can buy.