Please God, Let It Be Over Soon!

We’re all getting a lot of last -minute fund-raising emails from political candidates. Since midnight—and It was mid-afternoon when I wrote this—I have received 55 emails from candidates or PACs asking for money. 

The challenge each campaign manager faces is to come up with a key word or phrase for the “SUBJECT” space of the email that will prompt us to open his email and hopefully see the main message.

My favorite so far this campaign season? 

“I’LL BE HONEST!” 

I would have thought he’d want me to assume that.

What we badly need right now are elected officials—left, right or center— with character.  It’s hard to make any kind of judgement based on a candidate’s campaign advertising, but the tone is important. If the ads are harsh attacks with outrageous claims and no supporting documentation, there is reason to doubt both those accusations and the suitability of the candidate who paid to put them on the air. 

In particular, beware of outrageous attacks coming from questionable sources. The most significant and possibly permanent damage that has been done to all of us as a nation over the past four years is the absolutely outrageous idea that literally thousands of journalists working for hundreds of media outlets like the New York Times, the Dallas Morning News, the Portland Oregonian, CBS News and the PBS News Hour are all busily pumping out “Fake News”. 

Anyone who believes that, wants to believe it . . . and doesn’t give a damn about what is the truth and what is a lie.