Don’t think I don’t see the way you lace your fingers, bow your head in solemn prayer, yet keep your eyes lifted to make sure all the various news programs are watching. Your speech is full of all the usual polished platitudes and all the shiny symbols of performative grief and commemoration, all with the expectation that we will find yours more sincere than your opponent’s. Sure, you love your country, sure. But it’s a toxic love. You are a scorpion and these tragedies are merely square tiles in the campaign strategy chessboard upon which you will strike – anything to win.
***
The Sunday Muse, Shay’s Word Garden Word List, Poets And Storytellers United, W3, WODC (Win), WODC (Commemorate)
***
To be honest, I didn’t have a specific politician in mind. I just find most politicians to be generally worthless this time of year.
Jewish Young Professional 
This time of year ? Pffft. All year.
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Good point. I feel like I just notice it more now with election season shit. But it’s not like the politicians *only* suck in the fall and are so much better the rest of the year.
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by coincidence, it’s also election season in Israel, and the elections are also going to be held in Nov.
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When isn’t it election season in Israel?
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I am acquainted with a newly elected Congressman. I don’t trust him in any way, whatsoever.
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Is this someone you knew before they became congressman? It’s definitely difficult to trust someone that you know is perpetually running re-election campaigns
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He is a former coworker who was always kissing up to people in authority. He is a local businessman who recently replaced our Representative who resigned this year due to financial “irregularities”. It seems this former coworker is constantly jockying for power.
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It is difficult to trust that sort of person.
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Thirst for power is a huge red flag.
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Hate to stereotype, but that seems so typical. It might just be me, though. I don’t like authority much. As the song goes, they’re always winning.
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I cannot quarrel with that POV.
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I would comment, but I have to be photographed wearing a hard hat and talking to a man also wearing a hard hat. Then on to the old folks home to be photographed smiling down at an old lady in a wheelchair. Then a family pic of me, my husband, and out two perfect kids, all smiling. Once all of this is done, no more pictures but it’s time to go kiss the butts of my donors and to mouth a few things they expect to hear from me. Then, finally, I get a little time on my own to go meet my thing on the side, which weirdly resembles the exact type of thing I rail against in public. So vote for me! I will promise you anything but give you Arpege!
–Shay
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Lol!!! Best comment ever!!🤣🤣🤣
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Yes just the word politician makes me want to barf. What you wrote is spot on! I too think Shay’s comment is awesome!!
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And it’s so unfortunate, because at its core, a person who runs for and holds political office should be doing this because they want to serve their community and country. But instead, it’s all just a power grab. Shay’s comment is fantastic. Thank you for providing part of the inspiration.
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This season my derision is reserved for the politicians but my worry for those who would rather fight than vote.
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It is worrying. And the sad thing is that while I don’t agree with the mentality, the election system is so broken and people are so angry, I kind of get where they are coming from.
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I find most politicians to be worthless in general. All of them will milk a tragedy, disaster or crises for political gain. If there is no crisis at hand, they will create one.
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They really are pretty worthless generally. I think you are spot-on about their use and manufacture of crises.
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And yet we keep electing them!
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That’s true. We bear some responsibility here…
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Actually, we bear most of the responsibility. The problem is most of us, myself included, have neither the time nor the inclination to endure all the BS, and spend all the time required to be an activist voter, starting from the ground up. Politicians and the political system literally tire us out, and they go their merry way.
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I agree with you. And there’s so much BS just built into the system. It is exhausting.
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I guess we keep waiting for a “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” type. Are there any in the world?
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At this point, Mr. Bean goes to Washington would be a refreshing change.
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True that
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Touché. Good take. And for some there is no love.
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Good point. Either that or love of power and greed overtakes any love for country. I mean, you have to really hate your country and fellow countrymen to come up with some of these policies.
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I think you’ve pretty much summarized it! You find that type everywhere!
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I had the USA in mind when I wrote this because I’m American, but sadly, I think elements of this are universal.
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Everything we needed to read today … contained in your insightful and quite amazing write!
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Thank you! I kind of wish it weren’t quite so spot-on though
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Maybe it’s not just the politicians we have to be careful about, but also their hangers-on, “aides” and “friends” who think they have something to gain when their bet wins power? But a country still needs to be run.
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Both good points. A politician never acts alone. And if politicians were abolished, it’s not like we would magically have a civil well-run country
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They ALL lie and say things what we want to hear.
Except for the time I ran for Justice of the Peace, and I knew my opponent’s husband was moving to California shortly, way before her term was up. But I didn’t spread that TRUE news. And I lost the election, 49.xx percent to 50.xx. And she did move.
Our God works in mysterious ways, He is omniscient and knows everything, past, present, and future. Even though the job was part time, I would never have been able to do both all my teaching and this well. retired from teaching after 22 years later.
..
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Fascinating to hear about your experience from the inside! I’m sorry you lost to your shady opponent, but I am glad it worked out for you in the long-run.
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You put it all so well. It’s all a game to them: why do they keep fooling so many that it’s not? But politics does attract that sort of person more often than not.
~Dora
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It’s so unfortunate too. I imagine (or at least like to imagine) that so many politicians just start out as ordinary people who wanted to improve their community and country. But the system is so broken and soon you are so dependent on getting the votes by any means necessary…
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Agree.
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Congrats to you as a human being for having created a community of commenters that don’t go nuts about one certain individual or another! Anyways, I majored in political science and did nothing with my degrees. People will ask me what I think about this or that issue and when I tell them I don’t care about it, they’ll say “But you majored in political science!” Yeah, my point exactly.
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I think everything depends on your audience. I feel like if I started posting some of my really unpopular opinions on poetry, my comment section might descend into incivility and chaos. Lots of people with opinions on poetry on WordPress. Granted, that might happen if I post really unpopular political opinion too. Online communities are funny though. I’ve stopped trying to predict the stats/how people will react to a particular post because I’m always wrong.
I totally get it. I went through a political activism stage around college and now, I just don’t feel it in the same way. Part of it is that the nature of society and the political landscape has changed so much, part of it is that I’ve lost my capacity to be shocked by anything that happens in politics and it does breed a certain numbness.
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Yes indeed. We need our poetry to keep us sane, and carry it for light like Diogenes and his lamp.
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We certainly need something to keep us sane. Poetry happens to be healthier than cheesecake or whiskey 😋 But point well-taken!
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Hmmm… Cheesecake and whiskey might be right up there with poetry, LOL!
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I just returned from a “dinner” held by one of your two major political parties–a fundraiser, of course–and I see this! So, yeah.
However, just rambling here, off the top of my head, I think some mean well, at first, anyway, but the process of “maturing” in the political world involves learning how to do all those things that resemble lying and manipulating etc. etc. — just due mainly to the necessity of having to be “popular” and get re-elected– and by the time they’ve been around awhile, if they still mean well, they are kind of a rarity. So this shit’s been around for some centuries and now it’s become so sophisticated and polished that John Fogarty finally said “And if I were a politician I could prove that monkey talk.” (Fogarty- “Penthouse Pauper”)
It’s impossible not to be cynical.
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Oh fun! How was the dinner?
I get it. Maybe this is generous, but I like to believe that most individuals got into politics because they were motivated by genuine desire to improve and serve their community and country. A few years back, someone I knew personally ran for governor and this person was someone I knew was motivated by good intentions. This was a person who had worked on the issues firsthand and knew what policies were and were not working. It’s just that the system is so brutal and ruthless that it changes a person. Spoiler alert, the person I knew who ran for governor did not win.
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The dinner was good! Chicken–but well prepared with mashed potatoes and brown gravy. How can you go wrong? The dessert was the highlight. Masterfully presented, not just a dessert but a work of art that could have been entitled “celebration of carbohydrates.” Just looking at it raised my blood glucose levels, and then I ate it. What can I say.
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Politicians, they speak from both sides of their mouths, circus stunt for attention, and thoroughly trample integrity. You said it so much more eloquently than I could.
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There is so much circus stunt for attention. Very well said.
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Well said. Some of our favorite politicians lately had those little carny hands–which walnut has the pea under it whoops where’s my wallet.
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Good metaphor. I might steal this image and use this metaphor in another context. Stay tuned!
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I actually have some sympathy for the politicians. It is extraordinarily easy to offend people, and it must be difficult having to go around your life walking on eggshells, even if you’re trying to save the planet.
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You make a good point. I imagine that many people go into politics because they genuinely want to improve their community and country. A few years ago, someone I knew personally ran for governor in our state and I can tell you that this was someone who had the purest of intentions, someone who had worked on the issues in a very hands-on way and knew what policies worked and didn’t work to address them and was running for office in order to change these policies. (Spoiler alert: Said candidate did not win.) But it’s a tough system and you become so dependent on votes, favors, money, and reputation, and then you have to spend all your energy chasing and maintaining these things.
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Most politicians seem to be less than trustworthy. And they keep getting worse. Your piece does so well at pointing out how media–especially TV–has made their terrible behavior clear for all to see. Well, all who want to see.
The tone of the poem is perfect, you weaved contempt and fact rather masterfully.
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Thank you. I don’t love political poetry much as a genre but I enjoyed writing this one. Unfortunate that it is so spot-on
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It’s toxic when the worthless ones are elected.
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Exactly
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Hi, JYP! I just want to let you know that this week’s W3 prompt, hosted by the wonderful Aditi Sharma, is now live! Enjoy 🙂
❤
David
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I see toxic fumes spewing forth from most politicians.
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They are the worst!
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JYP,
I just wanna let you know that this week’s W3 prompt, hosted by our beloved Murisopsis, is now live:
❤
David
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[…] shiver cause you’ll fucking lose it. (The details don’t matter; it’s all the same story – tragedies are merely square tiles on the chessboard and who gives a damn.) You can beg for the why, you can take the holy part of yourself as if it is […]
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