Wake me in December
I admit it: I don't like politics. I don't enjoy covering it, hearing about it and reading about it.Alas, these days, it's a major part of my job.
Oh sure, if politics is being covered "Daily Show"-style, then I can find it entertaining. And having Chuck Norris and Ric Flair pay a visit to the Pee Dee? That's just something I find really funny. It makes me wonder, who's being backed by celebrities like Adrian Zmed or Clint Howard? But on a personal level, ultimately it all kinda aggravates me.
I guess I just don't like being told who I should support in government and why, which seems inescapable in the business of politics. I can make up my own mind, thanks.
I could blame 12 years of Catholic school for my inclination to resist authority, but that wouldn't be right. My folks can tell you I've always been a sassy kid, and to this day, if I really want your advice or input, I'll ask for it.
Anyway, back to politics. It's actually been sorta fun to be involved in covering the candidates' visits to the Pee Dee and the debate in Myrtle Beach the other week. The planning and execution of our news coverage appeals to me. Being accused of being biased toward one candidate or another? Not so much.
I also could do without someone from every single candidates' campaign calling me every single day to tell me their candidate sneezed, and do I plan to have a reporter to cover it? (OK, they don't really say that, but their reasons for calling to request coverage are pretty inane most of the time.) Don't get me started on the rapid-fire messages -- usually sent in triplicate -- that clog my e-mail inbox, too.
I think we've done a pretty good job of covering the upcoming primaries -- and by we, I mean the Morning News, WBTW and scnow.com. We've offered readers and viewers a wealth of information to decide how important these elections are to them.
Today, I got a call from a Marion woman who disagreed. Her complaint? We aren't reminding elderly people that these primaries are taking place this Saturday and next by putting it at the top of the front page every day. Her claim is that elderly people (she herself isn't elderly, but she was speaking on behalf of all the people who are, apparently) won't read past the front page of the paper to get the information they might need about the primaries. Telling her we have no control over what people do and don't read didn't work. We agreed to disagree, but not before she told me she'll be getting her news from another newspaper.
Maybe I should have tried to talk her out of it, but I didn't. I respect her choice to make up her own mind.
Posted by on 01/18 at 10:21 PM
It is amazing how much we think alike..I just cant say it as pretty as you do..
Politics isnt very funny to me..so I get bored very easily with it…
On a good day it is everything I can do to remember that
“Obama is running towards the White House while Osama is running away from it..”
Quite frankly..I just dont care anymore..
If you look back at how this country got started but with today’s perspective..
A bunch of people were members of a big English message board..but it had alot of rules and it cost them too much to post there..so they set out and found themselves their very own message board..
Only to learn that people are funny creatures at the best of times..and they had to keep adding new rules to balance the board..until they had as many..if not more rules than the board they had left..and for the first time..they get to see the expenses involved in having this new and improved message board..
You have rules..bi-rules..loop holes to rules..exceptions to rules..before you know it you have such a mess on your hands that you start looking for somewhere else to be..
The problem is..unlike message boards on the Internet..there just isnt anywhere else to go..
I truly believe that if Jesus Christ himself was to get elected as President..even he would have a tough time cleaning up the mess that it has taken us years and years to create..
So where do we go ? Apparently..forward aint an option..
As children..we had a mechanism that handled things like “the boogey man” that we didnt want living in our lil fantasy world..As adults..we use a similar mechanism to deal with murderers and rapists..so that they arent a part of our daily lives..we simply block them out and live in a make-believe world where good out-weighs evil…
I apply that same mechanism to politics..nothing that I ever say or do will change the course of things to come in this world...I know me better than anyone else..so I can make that statement with certainty..so I find a happy medium and try to laugh at as many things as I can..and avoid the things that bore me..
Simply put..the only place left to go is deep inside yourself..