Debates, Ribbons, Trophies and Other Things On My Mind

The Kennedy / Nixon Debate of 1960

I'll confess right up front, I typically do not watch "presidential" debates. In most circumstances I have already formed an opinion of a candidate based on his or her record. If the person has not held any political office prior to the debate, there is usually a wealth of information regarding their actions or accomplishments in whatever they've done in their life so far.

Unless of course that candidate just landed on this planet or has successfully avoided all forms of interaction with the public until now. Then one would have to wonder how they managed to do that. Perhaps the candidate is actually a cyborg and just came off the assembly line that very morning. No amount of clever / witty repartee in a "debate" will sway my opinion about a candidate. Do something, don't just flap your gums.

For the most part I loathe the political class. Most of them seem to have never had real jobs and by real I mean the sort of jobs that require one to show up for work at a certain time each day, perform duties for a certain duration during that work day and those duties must needs be actually have provided a service of some value to someone. Anyone. (No, community "organizing" doesn't count as a real job.)

Many people complain that the politicians in DC are "all lawyers." I confess to having used that characterization on more than one occasion. I don't really have a problem with lawyers per se, what I have a problem with is people who went to law school and never performed work as an actual lawyer. That would count in my book as a real job. Folks who immediately run for office without ever having done anything else are, to me, particularly loathsome creatures. I can't explain why I feel that way. I don't care for rats, snakes, spiders and ants either for that matter, I don't know why, it just is. Not that I'm comparing those latter creatures to politicians. I don't care for those beasties but I still respect them for the functions they have evolved to perform. Unlike the politicians.

So I tend to skip the debates. How well one performs in a debate is a measure of how well the individual prepared for the debate. Knowing the types of questions that will be asked enables an individual to have prepared stock answers to most things. It doesn't tell me how well that person would handle a real world scenario. Most things in real life don't lend themselves to quick, snappy answers.

So no, I haven't watched any of the debates and don't plan to watch any now or in the future. My personal opinion of politicians at that level is, for the most part, not expressed in polite company.

Next topic...

Over at Ask Skipper the other day there was a very fine post which covered one of my pet peeves. Awards and decorations, i.e. ribbons, fruit salad, the colored bits of cloth one wears on one's uniform to denote to the world one's accomplishments in the service of the Nation.

Ya know, these things -

Not mine by the way...

While I wasn't in 100% agreement with that post, it was damn close. The proliferation of awards in the military is out of hand. It goes hand in glove (which would be a pocket in the Air Force) with the "everybody gets a trophy" mentality which stalks the land.

I remember coaching kids soccer back in the day. Before one game my co-captains and I met the opposing coach at mid-field. We discussed various things and then the other coach happened to mention that there was no need to keep score. One of my kids asked him if he was pusillanimous. Okay, he used a word derived from that big word. The other coach was shocked and flabbergasted. Of course, I had to chastise my lad then and there.

He got a high five when we got back to the bench. My kids always played to win. They took defeat seriously and learned from it. It's the only way.

Everybody gets a trophy?

Pshaw.

Well, that's what's on my mind.

I am not looking forward to the upcoming political circus campaign. Lies will be told, promises will be made and the only winners will be the evil a$$holes behind the scenes. Their puppets will do stupid things and the MSM will either praise them or demonize them based on which party the puppet belongs to.

Can this change? I don't know.

Heading to New Hampshire recently I listened to Bobby Jindal talking with some conservative talk show guys on the radio. I found myself actually liking the guy. He seemed like a real down-to-earth American.

Yeah, he has no chance at all.

I just hope whoever gets to be in charge next doesn't screw things up too badly for my grandchildren.

There are days I miss George the Third...

All photos in today's post are in the Public Domain. No rats, snakes, spiders or ants were harmed in the writing of this post. A few politicians had their feelings hurt but who cares?