Wheels on the Bus

“Wheels on the Bus go round and round” so the kindergarten children’s tune goes. A pleasant little ditty it is, until one finds themselves part of a political campaign in America. Those big wheels have been pounding over folks this election season. “Wheels on the bus go thump, thump, thump.” Ask Reverend Jeremiah Wright of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. Wright is the latest political hit-and-run victim whom the Barrack Obama campaign tossed under the spinning wheels when the campaign association heat got too blistering. The list of victims is long, varied and includes such notables as Geraldine Ferraro, Rev Louis Farrakhan and even President Bill Clinton who was cast aside by Al Gore in 2000 because of Clinton’s Oval office Shenanigans. Such actions bemoan long engrained behavior traits. Robert Fulghum may be right as his book title suggests that “Everything I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten.”

The practice of casting off close confidants to distance oneself from unsavory press coverage is nothing new. It looks even worse when the smear is directed against the candidate themselves. The practice is part of our corrupted culture and bankrupted moral values. Even the guy in the 2008 presidential primary that talks so well is tainted by the knee-jerk desire to have power even if it means sacrificing moral authority. Experience suggests that it is this sort of cat and mouse game that the devious will resort to when they cannot win the race based upon issues. Robert Fulghum may be right as his book title suggests that “Everything I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten.

Since the world was riled up by Farrakhan, Feraro and Wright perhaps our little town can learn the lesson and reject such transparent shams the next time someone attempts one in a council race.

In the year when campaigns seek to rally around “candidate positions” but fall way short, it has to be asked; can local government hope to fair better? The snooty elites around town might realize that what’s good for the masses is good for them also. Then again that is apparently not the lesson anyone learned in Kindergarten.