Hot, murky summer

The political bullshit is as thick as the humidity this summer. I have to be very careful not to go out of my mind hearing all the catch phrases and code words being tossed around.

The common-denominator morons who respond to these marketing phrases are not really participating in policy making. They are being herded by professional manipulators to help a particular batch of policy makers take or retain control of the lives of all the little citizens who can't think for themselves.

Policy is never discussed openly. You can try to dig around for information, but then your amateur participation in government becomes your only pastime. People in power will never listen to you anyway.

Armed revolt appeals to some people who happen to like combat -- or think they would. That just puts another faction on top trying to maintain their position and remember what their ideals used to be before they had an unruly mob to control. It's not that different from an election, except that there's more property damage and death.

Between bulk-mailed petitions and helpful Internet groups a citizen can quickly join with apparently like-minded individuals to send messages to elected officials and government agencies. You still have to trust that the people providing your information understand the situation and really represent a solution you would actually support. I've joined in on a number of them just to keep general concepts at the top of the pile, but I've slacked off a lot as I find myself short of time to do my own research. Do I really agree with these people who appear to be my allies? Have they analyzed the situation the way I would? Has anyone?

If anyone were to respond it would be a fluke. The powerful, the prominent, like to make a show of occasionally pulling a commoner up from obscurity for a moment of attention and some photo opportunities. It's not the same as actually having an influence. And most likely I would forget anything important I wanted to say in the stress of the unusual moment.