OK, I've had enough. In Europe and other more civilized places, elections are held in weeks. In the United States, elections last 2 years, which remarkably enough is equal to the term of a member of the House Of Representatives. The election talk is deafening, and now drowns out any attempt by American citizens to have & hold a rational thought. I daresay that's the idea, and for the 130 million Americans who will vote this year, it appears to be working. And it is only mid-July, so we have nearly 4 months to go.
Without further preamble, I give you the two primary rules of American political life in the 21st century.
- The amount of political bullshit you are subjected to is directly proportional to the flagrant insanity and abject corruption which needs to be concealed.
- The amount of political bullshit you are subjected to is inversely proportional to the importance of the election result.
I hope these rules will help you through these tough times. Remembering them from time to time will help put things in proper perspective, and assist you in maintaining what sanity you have left, given the fact that you live in a time & place where (non-violent) human craziness has reached its high-water mark.
And never forget the immortal words of Dr. Emilio Lizardo (Lord John Whorfin) from the 1984 film Buckeroo Banzai—
Laugha while you can monkeyboy!
I have no way of getting any kind of reliable indicator of this, but It seems like the public is particularly dispirited regarding this campaign. Driving around, for example, I've seen very few bumper stickers for either candidate so far. Romney stickers have hardly been in evidence, and most of the Obama stickers I see are leftovers from 2008.
Ever since 1980, presidential elections have been decided by which party's base is more fired up. It will be interesting to see what happens in an election in which both bases are unenthusiastic about their candidate.
Posted by: Bill Hicks | 07/13/2012 at 11:43 AM