Who Says Politicians Are Crooks And Scoundrels? They Do!

There’s an old expression that says you can’t have a peeing section in a pool. That goes for politics too.

“I hate all politicians.” Helaine was voicing her opinion as an underdog senatorial candidate wailed on MSNBC¹.

It’s tough to disagree with her opinion. However, there are reasons to dislike politicians beyond what they do in office!

The loudest voices saying politicians are scoundrels and crooks and incompetent are other politicians! Have you had your TV on recently?

More-and-more political advertising has become a series of personal attacks. The more the candidates say it the more it resonates with the voters. Politicians are doing their best to make us dislike and distrust politicians and they’re doing it using our most effective media techniques in well researched campaigns.

Political campaigns are fought the way a teenager fights her parents–scorched Earth. There’s total disregard the vitriol will have to be undone. A family can heal. My relationship with sniping pols not so much.

Earlier I wrote we’ll continue to see negative campaigning because it works. I just never considered this collateral damage.

There’s an old expression that says you can’t have a peeing section in a pool. That goes for politics too.

¹ – We were only there to avoid CNN’s voluminous coverage of the salmonella egg outbreak. When Ali Velshi mentioned this might be a problem in Hollandaise sauce I knew it was time to move on.

Note: The anti-Lincoln ad at the top is obviously bogus, but too fitting to exclude. It comes from here.

5 thoughts on “Who Says Politicians Are Crooks And Scoundrels? They Do!”

  1. You are so right, Geoff. Let’s hope against hope that there might be some clean campaigning here in CT. *cue the music from “Man from La Mancha”*

  2. and an additional frustrating point.. most often the media covers only the campaign tactics and strategies a candidate uses.. so we never really learn what the candidate is about from an issues standpoint…

  3. When you’ve read your 1000th headline about a pol who took a bribe, or tried to sell an office, or got a cushy job at a company after pushing through legislation at its behest, it’s tough to avoid cynicism. But it pays to remember that these folks got in office because they were voted in. By us. Maybe we’re the ones we should be cynical about.

  4. “We have met the enemy, and he is us”–Walt Kelly in ‘Pogo’.

    I think you just put your finger right smack-dab on the problem, Bob.

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