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October 30, 2006
Like Robins In Spring
The postal carrier has been bringing all kinds of election-related mail addressed to previous residents, so I get a peek at what a different household receives. Or would receive, if it weren't sent here by mistake. Not by mistake so much, just from old files. If there's one thing in life I hate, but am fascinated by all the same, it's corrupt or outdated data. But anyway, the political fliers.
I got one just the other day that told me all about what those deranged Others were going to do if I didn't get out and vote for their candidates. Meanwhile, the mailer calls to mind one of those scare-you-to-church seminars about the last days. Yeah, I'd better listen to these guys. Maybe I'll send them some money, too, just in case.
Both parties are guilty of spewing this waste. I get e-mail from a 527 every six seconds, and the lonely voice of "Vru" coos into our answering machine while we're out. It's so bad that the cat and dog are arguing politics. Cats are notoriously apolitical, unless you call "I am the Voter, the President, the Congress and the Supreme Cat" a platform.
Dogs, however, are a campaign operative's dream. They want to please. You can convince them that a dry, stale "bone" made mostly of ground field corn is a treat. They will pull that lever if you merely promise them the treat. You don't even have to throw it.
But even dogs don't respond well to the fearmongering. This leaves me wondering: who or what, exactly, is all this stuff aimed at? The obvious truth is that it works. It works, not just once, but over and over again. Every cycle the same tactic is dressed up a little more garishly. Every major election sees victory and defeat doled out by jousting behemoths of public opinion that were only ignited to enter the ring by some spectral admonishment or other.
So go ahead, flock to your left or your right, whichever way is going to soothe those petty insecurities. Many people around this world, if they have a chance to vote in a real election at all, are voting on matters of food and water. Our bellies are (mostly) full and our throats slaked, so our minds are vacant, and thus easily occupied by these scary, meaningless words.
Elections | By joe lance | 10:27 PM