Politics of Getting Old Fast!

I have a certain level of respect for anyone who has ever been, is currently, or will ever be a serious contender for the office or President of the United States. This includes those with whom I agree as well as those I disagree. That level of respect increases if that person is able and unfortunate enough to become Commander-in-Chief.

Here's the point. Whether it's a comment about Hillary Clinton looking old, or concerns about Ronald Reagan's age, the process of fighting for the nomination, then the battle to the White House takes a year and a half of commitment. For a sitting president, it's a shorter process, but still involves months of juggling the office with the campaign trail. And for the frontrunners in the primaries and both candidates in the general election, there are endless personal attacks, a media recording every word and looking for contradictions, hacks and politicos looking for ANYTHING that makes the opposition look bad. In the Information Age, a bad pic is national news in a couple of hours.

If you are one of the few to attain the highest office in the land, then the real fun begins. You get to be on call 24/7/365 from the first day to the last hours. Ask Jimmy Carter about the last few hours of his presidency. I'm certain it sucked. Bill Clinton got his ass chewed on about everything imaginable, from blow jobs to the last pardon. I know, as I was reading some of the things I wrote back then. And the problem has persisted since the Washington administration. Oh yeah, there's also the whole assassination problem. Ask Abe Lincoln or JFK about that. Oh wait, you can't. Somebody shot them because they were President.

One of the reasons I created this blog was because of the viral nature of the blogosphere itself. Essentially, there are assholes on every imaginable side firing broadsides at their political opponents (and sometimes their allies) just to push their agenda. And the attacks are often purely vicious and without justifiable merit.

So this is a simple plea. If you disagree with a politician, fine. If you want to make some jokes at their expense, make them funny. But attacking politicians, verbally or otherwise, does nothing for your cause, and even less for your ability to speak in the future. So I ask anyone who reads me to join me in not bashing your political opponents. The greatest among us stay in the positive. Let the idiots be negative. Thank you.