residue

politicians.  my dad was a good ole southern republican judge.   he used to enjoy watching this sitcom from the 80's called "Night Court" that showed a group of characters that worked with the main character, a guy who went by "Judge Harry."  he liked watching it over the news or The Peoples Court because he said that it showed a judge, behind the scenes, acting like a "real person."  Daddy would laugh a little when my Mama, or anyone for that matter, would get upset when the latest elected official would not follow through on a campaign promise, or get caught with his proverbial pants down somewhere, or just act like a plain old douche-bag who has come into some amount of power.  Daddy would say to me "Son, you can't get mad when a politician acts like exactly what they are...  a politician."  now my Dad was one of those politicians, and he made no bones about it.  he did try to balance out this with service to our town.  countless times, growing up, we would be eating dinner, or watching tv, or doing homework, or already be in bed, when there would be a knock on our back door.  daddy would go to the door and invite the visiter to sit with him on the back porch swing. usually it was someone from the town that needed legal advice or just wanted to talk.  balance that out with seeing him wield his power in the court or in some special "Louisiana Napoleonic Law" sort of situation, and I was blessed to see what a politician is, a human being with assets and defects just like the rest of us.  

I bring this with me when looking at our overall societies views and reactions to our current political state.  I find myself laughing now when I hear people get bent so out of shape and refer to Trump as "the worst."  really?  is he the worst?  

remember Nixon?  "I am not a crook!"  

remember Reagan's press briefing when his secretary and all present laughed about the "gay plague"?

remember Clinton getting caught lying about Monica?

remember Bush and how Kanye so brilliantly floored Mike Myers by pointing out that "George Bush doesn't care about black people?

remember Obama only taking credit for ending the war in Iraq (which he didn't "really" do) and then saying it wasn't up to him?

remember Truman signing off on the death of 1,000,000 Japanese people?

remember Washington's slaves?

I am not interested in whether a politician is good or bad.  I am more interested in the memory loss that society has when it comes to the present moment and how this right now is not "the most fucked up time in our history" as far as politics go.   it is my opinion that "right now" is pretty typical of a system that places one individual, a human being with both assets and defects of character, that had to say and do anything he had to to convince enough of the electoral college to hand him the keys.  

cover it with as much paint as you want, but eventually some part if not all of the lie will bleed through to the surface.  and society as a whole will be waiting there with the paint roller to cover it in forgetful paint until the next new and "different" issue comes along.