Monday, June 09, 2008

Political Pollution Floods The Airwaves, Again

Tis the season for where politicians, aka polpigs, kick things into high gear in their pursuit of a spot at the feeding trough. No venue will be safe from their promises, claims, lies, accusations and deceit. Print media. Television. Radio. Even the internet is not safe. You can run but you can't hide from Political Ads.

These fairy tales come in many flavors but as far as I am concerned none are as obnoxious as the "Tell So and So" ads. I don't know what these are officially categorized as so we'll stick with "Tell So and So" for our purposes.

You've all seen "Tell So and So" ads. A folksy sounding voice tells you how the target of the ad has done something evil and rotten and finishes with "Call Senator Blowhard and tell him that you are afraid for your children's future" or "Call Jim Jones and ask him who he really supports - big industry or the taxpayers". Rarely are these ads sponsored by the actual candidate. The sponsors are groups like the "Friends of Senator Noggin" or "Citizens Against Dirty Underwear" or "Friends of Teacher's Unions". In other words, political action groups or special interests.

It is bad enough that polpigs on the stump desperately avoid saying anything direct and to the point without having these various groups doing the dirty work for the candidate. This allows the candidate to disavow any knowledge of the ad and keep his or her dainty hands clean.

Thank goodness for the television remote control because I have decided that I am going to try my damnedest to avoid all of the "Tell So and So" ads this year. I am not going to call anyone or tell anyone anything touted by one of the "Tell So and So" ads. This won't stop these stupid ads but will help keep my blood pressure under control.

The Political Silly Season is bad enough without the constant hammering from every political candidate and cause known to man. Another summer filled with political rhetoric and not a single morsel of true information amongst all of the garbage. Heaven help us all and protect us from these fools and idiots. And keep fresh batteries in your remote controls.

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've hated these ads forever. I've never done anything because of them, even for issues I support.

I'd like to know how much taxpayer money goes into these.

Also would like to know how effective they are. On one hand, someone can say if they weren't effective, they wouldn't waste money. True, to a point. On the other hand, someone could also say people do this to stroke their own ego and make themselves feel good.

Campaign finance reform my eye.

9:54 PM  
Blogger RStar23 said...

I think success is measured in two ways. The first is the very short term impact - an immediate flood of calls. The second is the long term impact - be lambasted with enough of these things over a long enoiugh period of time and even a dead man could be effected.

campaign reform is a joke. the amount of money spent on political campaigns is staggering. you can't help but wonder how much real good could be done with that money if it wasn't being spent on spreading misstatements and lies.

9:47 AM  

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