Breacation

I will not be blogging again until Sunday, 20th at the earliest. I am going on another breacation. I have termed it so, as it is, at least in my perception, a vacation with special conditions. As a vacation it allows us to make at least a temporary break from our usual routine, will take us to one of the most beautiful areas on earth (Canadian Rockies), will help us rest a bit from the stresses and strains of ordinary life, and, finally, will allow us to once again, however temporarily, to consider what life should be all about as opposed to what it seems to have become. This would not be possible without the special conditions I apply to myself at these times: no television, no radio, no newspapers, no internet, no “news” of any kind, and also no robo-calls, no advertisements, nothing to interfere with the splendor of the mountains and the scenery, a chance to contemplate and commune with nature undisturbed by the idiocy that is otherwise described in general as human behavior, and more specifically, that portion of it that is described as “political.” This is also coming at an opportune time as I find myself of late suffering from what I guess must be considered “Blogger’s block.” When I first began this blog, almost eight years ago now, I still had a sense of humor and at least a semblance of imagination. It was not meant to be particularly political. The past ten or so years have changed me into a cynical, somewhat crabby, and increasingly unhappy individual. Where I once might have believed there were good guys and bad guys, perhaps even such a thing as good and evil in general, I have now discovered there are only bad guys, known as Democrats and worse guys, called Republicans. And while there is a never ending source of idiocy to observe on the part of both parties, writing about it eventually becomes not only boring but increasingly difficult and even pointless. And as my sense of humor has pretty much deserted me, along with my imagination, I find it increasingly difficult to blog about anything other than the moronic behavior of my fellow citizens.

Perhaps the best example of what I believe to be the utter absurdity of American politics has to do with the current “primary” season. For at least the last six months Republicans have been attempting to find their candidate to run against President Obama, who is himself unchallenged. This procedure offered dozens of “debates” pitting these various candidates against each other. These so-called debates were virtually useless as far as selecting the candidate to run against Obama. They were so bad, such a waste of time, they were commonly referred to as a “circus.” In any case, over these many months millions of dollars were spent by various candidates on advertising and mailers and what-have-you were sent out and eventually a candidate was selected, interestingly enough a candidate that the vast majority of people, including members of his own party, did not want. But by spending literally multi-millions, mostly on “attack” ads, Willard Mitt Romney emerged victorious. Even as he is now their candidate there is very little enthusiasm for him even among the Republican “base.” President Obama has also spent millions upon millions touting his hoped for re-election. In spite of all this money and effort it is now said the election will be close, even a “nail-biter.” How this can possibly be after Romney has been exposed as even worse than an empty suit, has alienated virtually every voting group that exists, including women who can easily determine the outcome, is something I cannot comprehend. This is not, however, my interest here.

What I find so fascinating about this, as well as so stupid, is that it is claimed that the voting public is only just now beginning to pay attention. In fact, it is almost surely the case that a majority of the voting public has not paid attention and won’t pay much attention until a short time before the actual voting. If this is so, and I guess it is, what, pray tell, was the point? Why were so many millions spent, and so many debates and town meetings and etc., when hardly anyone except the few true political junkies were paying any attention? I don’t believe any other major country in the world has a process to pick their leaders that continues for a year or even more, or that spends so many millions for such a limited purpose. It seems to me this cannot be explained as anything other than sheer idiocy.

This ridiculous process has almost another six months to run before the election. We already know what Obama and the Democrats are proposing as well what the Republicans will propose (although they are careful to avoid any details). So for the next six months we will hear ad nauseam the differences between the two candidates, many more millions, perhaps even a billion will be spent on television, radio, and other advertisements. The television companies will grow rich almost beyond their former imaginations, and eventually voters will go to the polls…where they will vote on how they feel at the moment! Romney spent untold millions attacking and destroying his rivals, none of whom had any chance whatsoever of actually prevailing, Obama will have spent untold millions defending himself from absolutely scurrilous charges and unbelievable lies, A year or more of productive activity will have been wasted on this wasteful and destructive nonsense, our country will be worse off than ever, and whatever the outcome you can rest assured the rich and the corporations will emerge victorious. My breacation begins tomorrow. I can hardly wait.

You cannot slander human nature; it is worse than words can paint it.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon