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Man Oh Jeezle Pete! ‘Tis the season once again, can you believe it? The political season, that is. We have almost truths, half-truths, and not-a-lick of truths buffeting us like a blizzard. Truth. As elusive as the winter mittens you were sure you’d stashed in a place impossible to forget.
Just as you might have many closets to look for your mittens, there are lots of places to look for the truth. Too many places, in my opinion. There is Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC. I look in The Economist, Time, Newsweek. I check out websites like The Huffington Post, The Daily Caller, and Politico. I even give Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert a glance, because if nothing else I can laugh while I’m ripping around searching.
But I have to check all of these sources and more before I can cobble together what I think is the truth. By now, I’m exhausted and cranky. I’m talking PMS or hot-flash kind of cranky. I’m living in a culture where truth has become subjective and Where’s The Justice in that?
On one hand it’s spawned a whole new industry and we all agree that the country needs more people working. We now have an army of “fact checkers.” But I have a novel idea: Why don’t they get on the job before the speech is given? Why do I have to wait to find out if what I just heard in that inspirational discourse is the truth? I’m so enthused that I’m on my feet dancing, but turns out my partner is a spin doctor… and we’re not talking vinyl disks here.
I can’t be the only exhausted, cranky voter in search of the bare bones truth. I’d wager there are millions of us out there feeling ornery because discovering veracity shouldn’t constitute a journey equal to a walk across the country, scaling Mt. Everest, or swimming the English Channel.
So, after having studiously watched both the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention, what I’d like to do is demand that ALL candidates be hooked up to a lie detector while speaking.
Or better yet, let’s take advantage of neuro-technology like my friend Jake Stauch makes feasible with his company, Neurospire. Yep, with Jake on the job maybe we could see if any of these speechmakers are even thinking about the truth. Wouldn’t that be fun?
Then, why don’t we display the results on a jumbo-tron mounted above them. Maybe we could throw in a big guy with a mallet who delivers a punch to the head when they get it wrong. Man Oh Jeezle Pete! Talk about fun! Not to mention the free time I’d have on my hands.
By now, I’ve checked every closet, every winter coat pocket and I still can’t find my damn mittens. I’m hoping their loss isn’t a harbinger in terms of truth surfacing sometime this election season.
If my mittens don’t turn up in the next couple of months I can always buy a new pair. The truth? I’ve got a call in to Jake now.
Man oh jeezle pete, indeed. And lord help those of us who don’t have the extra hours to fact check and background check after every pontificating, speechifying sermon cloaked as honest conversation with Americans…
Thing is… most of us don’t want to be cynical all the time… I’d really like to LIKE our prez… to feel safe with him or her at the helm, rather than always feeling like we have to be parental sleuths, ferreting out where the kids REALLY were last night
These are supposed to be the folks we COUNT on, the ones who’ll give it to us straight, and that’s why we want them to represent us in the first place… I wonder if they’ve forgotten that?
One thing’s for sure, their speech writers sure have…
Amen to that!!!
I do love the lie detector idea. Although, I also know that the smart ones can lie right through it. If you re-word the question in your mind, and then answer it honestly, nothing looks amiss. At the very least, we could see who is smart and who isn’t . . . .!
I received this (below) in an email today; I’ve seen it before but I LOVE it. Since your post is political, maybe some of your readers might pass it on, titled, ‘Amen Mr. Buffet’:
“I could end the deficit in 5 minutes,” he told CNBC. “You just
pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more
than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible
for re-election.
The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds)
took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple!
The people demanded it. That was in 1971 – before computers, e-mail,
cell phones, etc..
Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year
or less to become the law of the land – all because of public pressure.
Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to
a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask
each of those to do likewise.
In three days, most people in The United States of America will
have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed
around.
Congressional Reform Act of 2012
1. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no
pay when they’re out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social
Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the
Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into
the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the
American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all
Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.
Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and
participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the
American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void
effective 12/1/12. The American people did not make this
contract with Congressmen/women.
Congress made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in
Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers
envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their
term(s), then go home and back to work.
If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will
only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive
the message. Don’t you think it’s time?
THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!
If you agree, pass it on. If not, delete.
Thanks Patricia…it was meant to be politically neutral, but I’m happy that you feel free to express your beliefs here!
Tweeted and promoted and tried to comment on your current post but encountered a problem. I was agreeing with you and added that the oligarchs and plutocrats appear to have already sewn up the elections; either candidate is owned by them however disparate they would appear to make it seem.
Thanks,
Ciao for now,
Carole
Romney and his rt wing vp choice are the biggest con in my memory.
god help us that they remain unelected
It’s enough to give a girl a headache. I’ll confess that I’ve become a cynic — believing nothing and trusting no one. I end up voting AGAINST a candidate instead of FOR the other person. That’s sad, isn’t it?
Yes it is…and my point exactly! Finding the truth should NOT have to be this difficult!
Oh, how we need an independent candidate! Someone who knows the Constitution, knows how to negotiate with the lawmakers, and doesn’t care about a 2nd term. Although he has a snowball’s chance of getting elected, he is making a name for himself, especially out west. He has written articles for the Washington Times though. Check out T.J. O’Hara. He is doing all of his communication electronically, won’t take more than $100 from any person or corporation, will donate any $ not used during the campaign to the charity of Richard Dreyfuss. Read his policies- they are too common sense for our traditional parties. http://tjohara.com/
Thanks for the heads up!