Glad It's Not Our Turn

Go, Florida.  It's your turn to hear the rhetoric and see the endless attack ads.  Now that the South Carolina Republican Primary is over, the money speaks in Florida for a while.  Unfortunately, none of us will get a break from the never-ending politics.  "News" networks have twenty-four hours to fill after all.

Most of the campaign speeches are regurgitations of previous orations.  There seems to be little that is new.  On the other hand, I have in fact learned a new word.  I heard it for the first time yesterday.  I'm not at all sure how often I might be able to use it, but I'm always happy to learn a new word.

The word is "prebuttal."  Prebuttal is a term used to describe an already-prepared response to an anticipated criticism.  Last evening the President of the United States gave the annual State of the Union Address to Congress and to the American people.  Prior to the speech, dozens of members of the opposing party gave prebuttals against what they thought the President might say.  Afterwards, many of the same people gave rebuttals.  So we had prebuttals before the speech and rebuttals following the speech.  (Would it have been a "buttal" if )someone made a response DURING the speech?"

The airwaves are flooded with misinformation and false accusations as they are in each election year.  They always seem to get worse every election but that might be a perception.  It becomes harder and harder to glean the "half-truths" contained in the advertisements.  (Actually, some of them don't have even half-truths.)  One individual has contributed (legally, thanks to the Supreme Court) five MILLION dollars to a candidate and is prepared to contribute another five MILLION dollars.  In spite of all the money, are these really the best candidates money can buy?

Enough ranting.  Let me just say that the political process has become very much like a sign we see on a trailhead in DuPont State Forest.  I will share it with you:

It pretty much sums up my feelings about politics in America today.  In truth, I am curious as to how the bin gets filled with horse manure.  And what happens to it afterwards?  Smart as they are, I don't think the horses can be trained to use a horse toilet.  I didn't see any shovels around to gather the manure.  And I know for a fact that people don't have to pick up horse manure on the trails.  While I must carry doggie poop bags, I have to walk around the much larger piles of horse manure on the multi-use trails.  (I still don't understand why I can't simply use a stick to get my the doggie poop off the trail.)

So the issue of the horse manure bin remains a mystery.  But I think I might be able to find the answer to that one.  I'll never find an answer as to how so many people can be so swayed by a television advertisement.  I want to shout to them to learn about the candidates, recognize the rhetoric, get informed, and stop letting the very rich buy our political process.