Tom Finneran: I’m Joe Citizen and I Disapprove These Messages
Friday, October 24, 2014
SHAHEEN vs. BROWN
COAKLEY vs. BAKER
MOULTON vs. TISEI
Given the charges and counter-charges flying back and forth in these fights I’m in need of some industrial detergent. Is there a shower nearby? Politics may not be for the faint-of-heart but when did it become so vicious? Does the voting public really buy into this nonsense about the various candidates? The fate of the Republic is not at stake here.
Rather, looking at the six names above, I think that they all have interesting credentials and experience. None of them is less than patriotic. All of them are familiar with the anxieties of the middle class. Some might be better than others at balanced budgets, economic development, and education, which are my three big issues. But we remain a government of checks and balances, where persuasion and reasonable compromise are the tools of success. And should “gridlock”---i.e.---differences of opinion--- continue down in Washington D.C..., that’s not the end of the world you know. Check the Federal Register and the U.S. Code and ask yourself what aspect of American life remains dangerously free from the fetters of the federal government.
A visitor from Mars, upon seeing the barrage of negative ads about these candidates, might reasonably conclude that they were the worst citizens on our planet. Full disclosure---I know four of them reasonably well and I can tell you that they are honest, intelligent, hard-working folks. Allow me to give the benefit of the doubt to the two I do not know as well……………………
The real problem in our politics is the scorched earth, take-no-prisoner model of campaign consultants whose advice is invariably made up of three words---“destroy the other”. Said advice not only poisons the civic well, preventing across-the aisle problem solving. It also conveniently enriches the consultants whose wallets are grotesquely fattened by mega media buys. After all, it takes many many millions of dollars to paint either Scott Brown or Jeanne Shaheen as traitors of America. They’re actually two reasonable people who probably agree on many matters and who might settle their political differences between the forty-yard lines of ideology.
Yet even the campaign consultants cannot be totally faulted for their tunnel vision after all they are only interested in winning and getting paid. Thus they use a proven recipe, one which exploits the distractions and ignorance of the general public.
A reasonably attentive and informed general public would scoff at these ads which depict candidates as Hitler-in-waiting. That same informed public would also scoff at the notion that all Democrats are nuts or that all Republicans are nasty.
It’s a sad state of affairs to be sure. We have a Commonwealth and a Republic which depend upon an engaged and informed public yet the polity prefers entertainment---Jerry Springer-like entertainment ---rather than thinking seriously about America’s worrisome issues. Does today’s American public dislike America’s children? How else to explain our disdain for “issues." When America’s obituary is written it must contain a word or two about the tragic demise of American education. When America’s obituary is written it must contain a word or two about selfish and self-destructive deficits. Perhaps that obituary might reference Springer and his many imitators, his audience of idiots, and their shared celebration of the lowest common denominators of human behavior.
A debased currency, a full-blown credit card mentality, and a woeful ignorance of history, civics, and individual responsibility have put America on a flight path to oblivion. Yet it need not happen, making it all the sadder when it does. Turn off the television. Tune out the ads. Those ads are cut and paste fictions, selective, manipulative and distorted. Rather, sit down and figure out what’s important to your kids and/or grandkids. Jobs? Opportunity? Education? All three? Believe it or not, there’s a candidate out there for you………………..
Related Slideshow: 2014 Massachusetts Political Ads and Videos
Related Articles
- Tom Finneran: America’s Big Mistake
- Tom Finneran: I’ll Have a Koch
- Tom Finneran: Sweet and Sour
- Tom Finneran: Birthday Prayers, Birthday Wishes
- Tom Finneran: Good Morning, Madame President
- Tom Finneran: A Mighty Fleet, a Righteous Cause, an Unbearable Sadness
- Tom Finneran: We Are the 99%
- Tom Finneran: Peace and Mutual Understanding? How Refreshing
- Tom Finneran: Recent Additions to Idiot Nation
- Tom Finneran: John Edwards Was Half Right
- Tom Finneran: Eagle Scouts
- Tom Finneran: Chicago, Chicago, You’re My Kind of Town
- Finneran: The Rockets’ Red Glare
- Tom Finneran: Yo Adrian!
- Tom Finneran: Water, Water, Everywhere - More Precious Than Gold
- Tom Finneran: From Tears to Laughter
- Tom Finneran: The Kids Revolt
- Tom Finneran: On Santa, and Sandy Koufax
- Tom Finneran: Nixon/Kennedy, Two Thank Yous
- Tom Finneran: On Bacon and Bullies
- Finneran: Somebody Loves Her
- Finneran: Life in the Nanny State…And Nanny is Nuts
- Tom Finneran: The Moon, The Month, The Memories…
- Tom Finneran: Cynics On Ice…
- Tom Finneran: Gywneth and Eva: Two Hollywood Ninnies
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It