This will be controversial.
My wife and I watch our middle school kids try to do and say things to become popular. They also try to do and say things to catch the popular kid’s attention. The same with the school bullies – our kids try to do and say things to appease the bullies, and she and I tell our kids to stop paying attention to the popular kids and the bullies, ignore them. In the blink of an eye, none of them will matter. "Listen to your inner knower," we say – "that voice in your head, telling you to be yourself." That’s all you need to be, and being that person will attract the right type of attention and the right type of people. People who want to know you and help you. It’s a common middle school parenting lesson I’m sure many of you can relate to as well.
Which leads me to the crazy season. The crazy season is what I call the weeks and days leading up to the primary elections, which were, of course, this past Tuesday. Seems like every TV ad and piece of print media for weeks featured a politician trying to out-conversative their opponents, trying to say and do things to be popular. It was middle school all over again, perpetrated by adults on a state-wide scale. They attacked people who had nothing to do with their campaign, the state of Alabama, or the office they were campaigning for. They heckled and name-called national figures who were irrelevant to their campaign. What are their positions? What are their hopes for their time in office? No one knows, but they can sure call national figures in Washington names. I’ve never seen anything like it.
The fact that politicians in Alabama were cravenly begging for the endorsement of a man who, according to The Washington Post Fact Checker Team, told over 30,000 lies in office is beyond my comprehension. Why in the world would anyone want a serial liar to vouch for them? If Charles Manson were offering endorsements, would they want his endorsement, too? And I know some people are saying, “He didn’t tell 30,000 lies! That’s the media attacking him!” Ok, ok. So let’s say he only told one third of that – he told only 10,000 lies. How much better is that?
I am either the furthest right Democrat or the furthest left Republican, depending on the issue. I can find no home in either party and crazy season confirmed that this is where I need to be. It’s insane. I sure hope that changes some day.
And I hope none of these politicians who lost on Tuesday choose to become middle school teachers or principals who would be expected to lead by example. What a train wreck that would be.
I’m Cam Marston and I’m just trying to Keep it Real.
