Politics…

It is a universally accepted fact that politics is a dirty business, and politicians are crooked egomaniacs with the faux charm of a con artist. But have you ever taken the time to think about politics and politicians?

I grew up thinking that Republicans represented specific American core values: low taxes, balanced budgets, limited government, and a propensity to stay out of the private lives of American citizens.

I couldn't have been more wrong. Regardless of the political party, it was all a charade; a means to gain control of the system and to ensure that they, their family, and their friends, both personal and political, enjoyed the largess provided by the American taxpayer. Where accounting systems were defective by design and the bureaucracy is forever perpetuating and justifying its existence.

It is an illusion that we have a choice when it comes to selecting those who represent us.  The only choice we have is among those who have been pre-chosen for us by powers beyond our comprehension or control.

We often claim to know the emperor has no clothes but do not speak up or take action. We leave it to others, and that's when things go awry.

This is, of course, not a new story but a familiar tale that must be told and re-told until it motivates someone to put down their damned iPhone and pay attention to the chaos and corruption surrounding them and choking our nation to death.

Washington…

Washington is a peculiar land, where there are no lies, only misperceptions, and misunderstandings. Thoughts conditioned on understandings presented by staff, gleaned from the media, or inculcated into the culture as "things everybody knows to be true."

Money, sex, and power are transmutable into each other and serve as political currency -- pursued with intense, relentless fervor. The conventional tensions between them sparking bright during their transformation.

Everyone wants access, favors, or to drop a renowned name. Power originates from saying "yes" when the default position is "no." Those who create and manage scarcity, real or imagined, are the gatekeepers to fortunes.

Everybody speaks about future benefits as if a history of past failures did not exist -- hoping to kick the proverbial can down the road far enough to avoid the consequences of one's decisions.

A land where perception trumps reality and the real power accretes to the accomplished persuader.

There is something curious and unnatural about the decaying offices of political power that exist within the capitol complex. Perhaps why legislators are so eager to conduct business elsewhere, mainly bars, restaurants, golf clubs, and whorehouses.

The history of politics is a trail of good intentions and intermittent honesty gone amiss. Or at least the veneer of good intentions covering the corpus of corruption.

On politicians…

Most politicians come from somewhere else and find themselves easily corrupted by the power, prestige, and profits that flow from their position.

The average politician is possessed of unremarkable good looks and a remarkably inflated ego-- living in a bubble of false good cheer and feigned high spirits.

They resemble each other to the extent that we do not need to know too much about them other than the letters after their name, party and state in parentheses, and their committee assignments.

They are all manipulators and users of people. Disingenuous conversationalists telling people what they want to hear. They are cynical, calculating, opportunistic, and sometimes delusional.

They are steeped in an environment in which threats, coercion, blackmail, and illicit quid pro quo deals are made to seem commonplace. A life characterized by venality and continuing doubt about their ability to be reelected.

A life filled with often paralyzing ambiguities that manifest as inconclusive conclusions.

Politicians are always selling someone out: their constituency, their donors, their party, their nation, and most of all, themselves as they morph into political whores.

Media: where the bullshit never stops...

The media moguls and tech tyrants have America by the balls. They are posing as shills and propagandists for an administration handing out goodies including advertising revenue, contracts, grants, subsidies, tax breaks, and refraining from looking at industry consolidation as potential anti-trust violations. Because of the corporate ownership of the means of communication, there is no impetus to investigate governmental wrongdoing or speaking truth to power other than a tepid notice on page 24, lower-left half of the page.

Then there is that wonderful exhibition of participatory democracy, the televised town hall, with its pre-selected audience and partisan moderators smiling disingenuously as they ask their gotcha questions and argue with participants as if they were part of the debate.

The motto of most media outlets should be emblazoned on their lintel: "narrative over news." With wall plaques reminding one to entertain as they indoctrinate.

It is challenging to get the straight news unless you are tuned to the contrarians' underground circuits, including those of so-called conspiracy theorists. Unfortunately, what the media cannot censor or cancel, they label as conspiracy theories. But who could have anticipated that the leadership of our premier intelligence and law enforcement agencies would be heavily politicized -- compromised and producing several attempted coups and cover-ups. Conspiracies turned into harsh realities -- proven by sworn testimony and documentary evidence in a court of law.

The main problem with the media is that nobody holds them accountable for the lies and distortions they parrot as propagandists. Sorry, that journalism degree from an elite university is worthless if all you reports are re-written Twitter Tweets. Journalists have lost their capacity, to tell the truth, first to their corporate masters and then to the American public.

Where are we going?

We continue to elect the worst of the best or the best of the worst. I can't tell the difference anymore, and the political parties are useless, shoving corrupt liars into positions of consequence that affect the world and, more importantly, our lives—often choosing color, gender, or ethnicity over competence.

I am beginning to adopt a fatalistic viewpoint – one of death by decay. One of fables and fairytales spun by those with the loudest voices. Idiots who believe Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram mirror real life.

For those with an almost magical faith in a particular political savior, remember it is a long way from the environs of "somewhere else" to a bleak and brutal Washington. A journey best taken by a man who believes politics and serving your country is a calling rather than a profession.

At present, no one has captured the imagination of a majority of American voters. Pray, we are not so divided that a fringe candidate can tip the tide and flood a foundering ship of state.

There are no new truths, only recycled political myths spun by those seeking your support.

And if there is anything I despise, it is progressive communist democrats, armored in false virtue and pretending to have the moral superiority that conveys the privilege of telling me how to live my life.

We are so screwed.

-- steve