For the last few weeks, I’ve been amazed at the trash-talkin’, adolescent bad behavior of politicians in general. I know, I know – it’s getting close to election time and why should I expect anything different! Looking back over the years, if my memory serves me, it wasn’t always this bad.
In fact, it’s gotten so bad that 30 year old locker room talk may be drudged up and thrown in your face. Or you’ll be accused of having Jewish blood. Hell, with America being the melting-pot that it is, we all probably have a little Jewish blood, or African blood, or Native American blood or German blood, or Japanese blood or Venezuelan blood. Are there genetic markers for that? Should I dispense with the torturous genealogy research and just get my blood tested to find out for sure that I’m 25% Irish, 2% Native American, 2% Black, 12% Welsh, 20% English, 5% Jewish, 8% Scots, 6% Swedish, 20 % just plan Ornery? At what point did my American-ness disappear and I became a sum of my ancestral parts? Any of which can be used against me at any time, if I decide to step into the public eye? It’s not like a recipe for vegetable soup, you know.
This kind of crap is the exact reason why many qualified and dedicated AMERICANS don’t run for elected office. The slightest slip, streak of bad luck, speeding ticket, bounced check, argument at the little league field, or results of bad decisions by friends and/or relations will be found out and thrust under the microscope for the slobbering MSM and their liberal-agenda-promoters to gloat over.
The Anchoress was on the same wave length yesterday. She’s had enough as well.
Having watched politics all my life, I can state categorically that I never heard “the loyal opposition” of either side characterized as “evil” before the Clintons got into the WH. By the time they left, both sides were resorting to that language, but it started with the game of making one party out to be not simply “wrong,” but “evil.” Those eeeeevil Republicans who want to poison your drinking water, kick grandma in the wheelchair down the stairs, starve your children at school and take Big Bird off the air.
I never noticed Reagan using that sort of rhetoric, nor even Bush 41. That crap started in the 1990’s with the “war room,” and the “scorched earth” policies of the Clintons, and they have done us damage.
It’s soooo true. The political arena has devolved past the playground bullies to something that is no longer recognizable. Take a hard look back and you can see the line in the sand. The rules of engagement changed when the Clintons came into power. No longer was it acceptable to call someone out on their record – nope, just go right ahead and lob a couple of below-the-belt cheap shots. No one will mind. Stir in a couple of smears for spice. And don’t forget, you can lie all you want – everybody will take your word as gospel. No bother to fact check. You’ll get lots of free publicity. Good for the campaign and all that.
Having an opinion and having the right to express that opinion without recourse is a foundation of liberty. That being said, propriety, common sense and good taste should govern all debates, regardless of whether they are public or private. It’s a shame that good manners are no longer “fashionable”.
It’s just a difference of opinion. This is America. If someone wants to disagree, they’re entitled. If they want to call me a name, well, that says nothing at all about me, and loads about them, so what do I care? And my site-meter doesn’t mind a bit.
Speaking of name-calling, Olbermann calls Chris Wallace “a monkey“ after the Clintonista interview this weekend. Hmmmm… sounds like the pot calling the kettle black to me.
This cartoon from The Muslim Question says it all.
Obi's Sister 