Rhetoric and Other Hot Air


For folks that are political junkies or policy wonks, the current Presidential Primary Campaign season which is about six months early has been a blessing. Not only does it give the politicians running for office something to spew about, but it does the same for the blowhard TV and radio commentators.

Not since the last Congressional Election has so much hot air been released at one time. If you listen now though, you’ll hear enough of it to fill up a fleet of hot air balloons. It’s enough to make the Wizard of Oz’s County Fair balloon seem paltry.

First, regarding the general public, it is the middle of summer vacation so the Presidential candidates that have set out on an unprecedented early debate schedule in both parties are talking to, media reporters, wonks and other folks who have no real life to speak of. C’mon the general electorate won’t wake up to this stuff until mid November; only to slumber through the winter holidays again. Real attention to the issues won’t be the focus of their lives until after the Martin Luther King Holiday in mid-January. Of course then comes the cavalcade of primaries where the politically astute will finally make a decision on some folks. After that the whole thing will get even more narrowly focused, and the winners of both Republican and Democratic nominations will be ignored for another six months try not to though they might.

In the mean time all of the pufferations and huffifications that you might witness in the media are merely show pieces. How naive Barack Obama’s foreign policy sounds, how low cut Mrs. Clinton’s plunging neckline blouses happen to be or how much of a distant family man Rudy Giuliani really is will never matter, and certainly not this far in advance of voting day. It is all entertainment for the elites and media types. Actually it is quite comical to note the seriousness that the “privileged” find in this stuff. They are living on this hot air while most American’s are sunning themselves on America’s beaches with the sun's natural heat.

All of this hype and malarkey is driven by the money machines that are seeking an edge in order to produce viable candidates for the Presidency. It could be worse perhaps. All of the campaigns could resemble John McCain’s "Disintegration Express" and have barely enough air left to be noticed. In the last Presidential campaign the "McCain, media darling" tour was the big elephant balloon (of hot air I might add) in the room. Today with so many other options including formidable candidates with a “D” next to their name, it has relegated McCain to some sort of secondary gnome status.

This early in the primary season what would be a great is if we could put all of the rest of the Presidential trolls under the bridge and in the dark next to McCain until the election was about a week off. Unfortunately that’s not how campaign seasons work.

As long as we’re stuck with all of the political hot air so early though, we might fill up some hot air balloons with all of that nonsensical rhetoric and make our escape in the attached baskets. At least then the Presidential hopefuls with the ever flapping jaws will actually be supplying something the electorate would appreciate.