Like everyone, I have been thinking a lot about our current political “shutdown” in Washington.   The truth is, we have no one to blame but ourselves.  This is the government that WE elected.  You still have responsibility if you didn’t vote, perhaps more.  We have become so polarized that impasse is the norm.

 

Our politicians are very smart, they studied Niccolo Machiavelli and Sun Tzu.  They know what they are doing.  They know what plays with the voters back home.  It is all about power, about getting re-elected.  This will only end when the voter starts looking at the big picture.  As long as we vote single issues, this will be our government.

 

Don’t worry, I am not going to insult or gratify you with my side of the debate.  One thing I learned a long time ago about politics is that everyone has an opinion.  More importantly, nobody is interested in yours (or mine).  There is no such thing as a rational political discussion.  Very soon it gets heated and then people start interrupting or monopolizing the “discussion.”

 

Offering political opinions, in any setting, particularly social; only turns people off.  The boors just don’t know better.  The bullies know better but take every opportunity to offer their opinion.  The socially inept bombard friends and family with the same rantings camouflaged with the events of the day; then wonder why people avoid them.

 

News media are the worst.  They are masters of provocation.  They fuel the fire and fan the flames.  Then they report on the behavior of the fools who take the bait.  We forget that their principal objective is to sell themselves, otherwise they go bankrupt.  If they can’t argue the facts, they subvert truth with perception.  Perception can be managed; truth is… inconvenient.