There are some politicians who just set my teeth on edge!
The moment they open their mouths they start spewing a stream of falsehoods and sophistries that are so transparent to anyone who is paying attention. (Or anyone who has the minimum amount of interest to rive them to the Internet news archives to verify, or debunk, their statements.) The politicians who believe that repeating the same lies over and over again will suddenly make their statements magically come true.
A certain politician of late has entered that class in my mind. Their assurance that they took an admirable stance - even though every news organization including the one that tends to sympathise with their party's party line - has stated point blank that the statement is untrue, grates on my nerves. And as this is one of the only qualifications that is offered for the candidate's worthiness of being elected for office, the party seems to be of the opinion that if they just repeat the claim often enough the whole fabric of space-time will unravel and reweave itself so that in our timeline the claim will eventually be true.
But today's screed is not about what any politician said, it was about a "Man-In-The-Street" piece I heard on the radio this morning. NPR was interviewing women about their feelings. "How do you feel now that the republicans are running a woman for V.P.?" was the gist of the piece.
In among the normal and predictable chaff of "She's great! I'm gonna vote for her..." and "She's horrible! I'd never vote for her..." was a shining grain of truth. A nugget of inspiring wit. A line that made me laugh. The line started-out sounding like any other partisan hack line. The woman being interviewed delivered the line beautifully too... She paused right where the effect would be greatest.
"What do I think?" she began. "I think that her selection is a sign of progress for the Republican party."
I rolled my eyes in the half second she paused at this point. "God," I thought "another voter blinded by the right..."
But then she finished her thought: "I mean they've been selecting unqualified male candidates for so long, it's good to see them pick an unqualified woman for a change!" I broke out laughing!
Wherever you are today, I hope you find something to make you laugh!
Don Bergquist - September 18, 2008 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA
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