The truth about politics

Only a month and we'll be done with the current cycle of campaigning. The advertising will go back to more benign topics and the TV news/talk shows will remember that there's a whole big world out there that doesn't need to be seen through the red and blue filters of the Democrat and Republican parties.

I was out walking today and listening to music (have I mentioned how much I love my Ipod?). A song came on by The Roches, called "Who Cares". Here are some of the lyrics:

I like to watch TV
listen to the news
hear what everybody is saying
there's a lot of talk about God
peace and safety and
war and fear and
there goes a girl in a bikini

This guy's saying that guy's an idiot and
she's on the right, he's on the left and
everybody's screaming and yelling at each other and
calling each other jerks
its a party

Who cares where the truth lies
Who cares where the truth lies

Guys dressed up in suits and ties
look you straight in the eyes
telling you lies
but I really wish I knew
what they were talking about

Meanwhile human beings
are being strung up on bridges and
little kids getting their legs blown off and
young soldiers are coming home no more

who cares
who cares

After listening to all the words being thrown back and forth by the politicians, their ads, their parties, the analysts, the newscasters, the comedians, and any of us, who've so charmingly been reduced to being "joe six pack" or "soccer mom"--its easy to see where the sentiment of the song comes from.

We can only guess our best at who is being truthful the most often and who has the most workable solutions to all of the complicated problems that face the US and the world. I have strong opinions about who is better suited to the job but I recognize that they are only opinions based on my biases, life experiences, likes and dislikes etc. There are precious few verifiable facts regarding any candidates past record (those records are so like Bible verses in that they change depending on who's doing the interpreting) and no mortal can tell us what will happen when one or the other is elected.

So....if you want to talk politics with me, don't be getting all high and mighty thinking you know the truth--because then I'll just have to start my own little delusional rant. And that'll just suck the fun right out of running into each other, don't you think?