Political Melodramas with Real Consequences.

I ran across an interesting article that reminds me of just how American politics has devolved into a soap opera/cliff hanger with a melodrama plot.

Here's segments of the article:

So label males as pigs and Donald Trump as a prime porker. This is a f__k you year in politics, and women, particularly those who want to make their way in this world based on their talents, brains, hard work, and merit, not their physical attributes, cannot be blamed for deciding: “If that’s the way he talks about woman, then f__k him, I’m not voting for the bastard.” However, making porcine proclivities an issue, hoping to steer female votes to Hillary, the Clinton campaign plays a dangerous game.

~~Snip~~

Take every offensive thing the Donald has ever said or done and he’s still a piglet compared to Bill Clinton’s blue-ribbon, two-thousand-pound swine. Clinton has: been credibly accused of raping or sexually assaulting multiple women; allowed a star-struck younger women to have sex with him; demeaned the office of the presidency with his Oval Office sexual hijinks; had a semen-stained dress proffered as evidence against him; paid $850,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit, and had to defend himself against impeachment for perjury and obstruction of justice related to that suit. The release of the Trump video assuredly puts all that into play. Hillary brings a knife to this fight; Trump has a bazooka.

~~Snip~~

Trump’s vulgarity supposedly poses a threat to all that is good and decent in American politics. For at least the twentieth time his campaign has been declared dead by the political establishment, media, and his opponent’s campaign. But think about it. They’ve had months to dig up dirt on Trump and this is all they’ve got? The pettiness smacks of desperation, and the difference in scale between allegations made against Trump and the Clintons’ well-documented sleaze, corruption, and criminality is yet another instance of the overwhelming bias against Trump, which has already driven so many fed-up-with-the-establishment voters into his camp. The disclosure may well boomerang, but Trump has to hit hard on the Clintons’ depredations and refocus attention among supporters and potential supporters on his issues. If he can’t do that, he has no business being president.

http://www.theburningplatform.com/2016/10/09/the-politics-of-porcine-proclivities-propensities-and-predilections/#more-133466

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Now, I think the article indicates that the writer is more pro-Trump than pro-Clinton. So be it. I don't care. Everybody is for somebody who others might considered them to be good, bad, or indifferent. That said, I have zero love for Trump or Clinton.

My point:

This article makes me realize that I can't continue to dismiss how we're drawn into the melodrama of politics rather than the consequences of politics. Politicians want us to dismiss the consequences of their actions or how they believe that they are privy to play their roles in our system of government without any substantial fear of having to be truly accountable or suffer consequences of their actions...other than losing their seat. But in the wake of their actions we citizens could reap some pretty nasty consequences of our politicians behaviors while in high offices. And quite possible for decades to come, or even centuries. Why don't we care about the social consequences created by a group of people (affiliated with all political philosophies and parties) who believe that they are above reproach?

Removable Mind said:

Why don't we care about the social consequences created by a group of people (affiliated with all political philosophies and parties) who believe that they are above reproach?

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Because it's all the otherside's fault! Don't look at me to make changes, I'm supporting the good guys who want to do right by the people. It's the other side and all they tyrannical, fascist lefty/righty (choose one) ways that want to destroy America and make it worse. Why if everyone just supported my guy, everything would be roses. And don't think about voting third party, that's a throw away vote and a vote for the bad guy, do you want the bad guy to win? My guy may not be perfect, but he's/she's the preferable choice when compared to that other guy because the other guy is so much worse that we cannot allow them to gain power in the least. Stop thinking, vote Party!

This election cycle has been full of more cuttthroat slime-throwing then any other in modern times.

Roadvirus said:

This election cycle has been full of more cuttthroat slime-throwing then any other in modern times.

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I'm not so sure about that.

The election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson vs. John Adams.

Jefferson’s camp accused President Adams of having a “hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.”

In return, Adams’ men called Vice President Jefferson “a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father.”

As the slurs piled on, Adams was labeled a fool, a hypocrite, a criminal, and a tyrant, while Jefferson was branded a weakling, an atheist, a libertine, and a coward.

The nastiest election in American history? Not even close – Rare

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The above sounds oh so familiar, doesn't it?

Another notorious election was between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams. Lots of sites devoted to their brawl. It was pretty brutal. They were vicious. In the end, the election had to be decided by the U.S. House because neither gained popular vote where it counted so the electoral college process failed to produce a clear winner. The House vote that decided who the president would be is called, "The Corrupt Bargaining".

There's be quite a few really nasty elections.

But my reason for posting this thread can be explained pretty much in the last paragraph of the OP. We the People have allowed ourselves to be sucked in by all of the political melodramas and have ignored the most important role that we play in our form of government. And our politicians, over the span of our government's life, have exploited our thirst for populism (aka political apathy mixed with blaming some group with agendas against the people) and the endless political melodramas. It boils down to "the electorate failing to do its job because they enjoy being sucker punched and self-destructive and our political parties/machines, and/or special interests all know it".

We are a society that lacks the ambition and pro-active participation that is virtually mandated in our form of government in order to hold elected officials accountable for their actions, which have consequences against the people's interests and can last for generations.

Meanwhile, the greatest diversion by politicians is played out every election cycle. We aren't evaluating the performance of current office holders when voting. We aren't evaluating the curriculum vitae of wanna be office holders. We want a melodramatic dog and pony show. In other words the people are often drawn to every type of candidate that's more than likely self-serving, dishonest people, or total idiots planted by political machines and/or special interests, but presents themselves well and tells potential constitutes what they want to hear. It's simply the path of least resistance for the members of our very busy society.