The Dog and Pony Show?

Ted Folkert

August 6, 2015

How can they call this a debate? It is actually a public venue to express sound-bite opinions about how each would-be leader of the free world will make life better for everyone in their own selfless and benevolent way. It is a contest to see who can do the best job of converting the question they are asked into the question they came with a canned pitch to answer. You know – circumnavigation, sleight of hand, evasive strategizing, political campaign-speak. If you listen carefully, you will note that their answer to each question ends up the same way, peace on earth, goodwill to all mankind, and “I” am the only one who can make it all come true. Count the number of times each one says “I” and how many times they say “American people”, as if that wasn’t something of which they were a member.

If you want to muddle your mind, try to summarize the political position and convictions of each candidate and determine how they would perform the duties of the office. Be sure to have a full bottle of your favorite beverage, this will be an exasperating experience and you may end up where you began, like in a mindboggling labyrinth or a New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle. Like some politician said recently, “I voted for it before I voted against it” – so, in other words, I was on both sides of the issue, so I am safe no matter how it turns out, I can stay where I am or revert to my previous position.

Speaking of mindboggling, how confusing must it be to try to remember the “correct” answer to each question when you aren’t even sure how you feel about it but, like a good politician, want to tell everyone what they want to hear – at least until after the election. Like Rank Parity, former Texas governor, when he couldn’t remember the “third” thing, or Gorge W. Shrub, another former Texas governor, and the lapdog for the leader of the national wrecking crew who destroyed our economy and killed our kids back in 2000 to 2008, who got all twisted trying to say “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Most of us learned that one in elementary school on the playground. Of course, he and Dark Chimney probably had better things to do in grade school, just like they did when they evaded the draft.

The big problem is, no one knows what they will do as president. The job is so vast, it stretches throughout the world, it takes them four years to learn their way around. They usually surround themselves with a few good advisors and lots of no-so-good ones, after keeping campaign promises and appointing people to positions they cannot handle. Can you imagine your first day on the job as president when they tell you that now you have a million employees who are your responsibility and a trillion dollar budget to control while improving the welfare of all the people, like you promised you would? The answer would probably be: you’ve got to be kidding me.

So who should we elect? The person with the most wealth, the most education, the best record in Congress or their state, the most religious person, the most honest person, the best looking person? Or should we elect the person that we believe can understand the big picture, see fifty years ahead, remember the lessons of history, recognize the mistakes of the past, focus on what can be accomplished given the political framework within the government at hand, think rationally and not whimsically, make decisions based upon compassion and empathy, understand the difference between toughness and prudence, consider each citizen to be of equal value, with equal rights and equal opportunities, with the right to a good education. Should our president be someone who is totally focused on protecting our borders or banning abortions? Should he or she be someone who espouses religious principles or law and order and equal rights? Should the president be someone who hasn’t fully given up on racial favoritism or racial discrimination? Should he or she be someone who favors hydrocarbon production over environmental concerns or corporate power over equal rights and opportunities? Should the president have personal ties to the financial behemoths or to the educational leaders of the country?

Unfortunately, there is no educational course for being president. There is no test to take to see if you qualify. The only basis for determining someone’s ability is by looking at their past, not what they say they are going to do, but what they have done in the past. An athlete’s potential is not based on what he or she says but what they have done. The same should be the basis for judging a politician. What have they done? How have they voted? What principles have they stood for? What issues have they supported? With whom have they associated? Who are their supporters, the Kook Brothers or Common Cause? The Southern Poverty Law Center or Faith & Freedom Coalition?

It is going to be a long road to the 2016 election, which will absorb more billions of dollars than ever before. Efforts to buy the electoral offices will come from all directions. What does that tell us? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. It pays to buy electoral offices, it is a great investment. Otherwise it would not attract such massive wealth.

Is this the democracy we think we have? No, of course not. It is an oligarchy, an aristocracy, a winner-take-all society, and one which cannot endure without rapid and substantial changes.

Think about it!