Simple Minded Politics and Shopping
By Dave DeMars - Posted 3/19/2017
It happened to me several years ago when I went grocery shopping. I wrote about it briefly then, but it occurred to me that I should revisit this shopping expedition and what I had said about it then. Little has changed since then in the way of my opinion, but I updated and added some clalrifying remarks.
I was in the fruit section minding my business, looking at a watermelon when an old geezer in a motorized shopping cart pulls up opposite to me. I didn't think anything of it and went on examining the melons trying to make sure they were grown in the United States instead of Mexico or Costa Rica.
To be sure, I have nothing against Mexico or Costa Rica personally, but I've bought melons from those places, and they just don't taste right. I'm not sure if it's the soil, the fertilizer, or the rain, or the way they are shipped, but there is something about a melon from south of the border that just gives it an odd taste. In mid winter, they look mighty nice, but they taste terrible.
So as I was standing there contemplating whether to trust the label that said grown in the USA, the old man began his conversation with me.
“You ever been to Aldi's?” he asked.
I assured him that I had.
“You can save a good deal of money if you were to buy this same melon at Aldi's,” he said. “Here they want $4.98 and at Aldi's they are asking $3.68.”
“The problem is that I'm here now, and I'd have to go clear across town to buy the melon,” I said. “I want to make sure that they are grown in the U.S. I'm willing to pay a little more for a melon grown in the U.S.“
“Oh, you can save on other things, too,” he said. “Like the cereal. It's a lot cheaper there than it is here unless you buy the store brands. Store brands here are generally cheaper, cause ever since Cub moved out, they've been raising their prices.”
“Yeah,” I said, “but I'm not so sure it's just because Cub moved out. Prices have been going up all over, and not just on groceries. The only thing not going up is people's wages.”
“Hey, you know how to tell a good melon?
“Yeah, you thump 'em,” I said.
“Yeah, or you can core them,” he said.
“They might not think too highly of that if I cored several of them.”
About this time, several other shoppers came through and I thought I should move and leave the aisle open. I excused myself thinking that I had practiced being Minnesota Nice just chatting with the old man and being respectful toward him. But he wasn't done. He followed me to the cantaloupe section. That's when he started talking politics.
I'm not sure what attracted him to me, but apparently I was wearing some sort of mark of the political neophyte or something. At any rate he began to tell me about the Tea Party and how he talked to folks about it and how Obama was taking the country to hell in a hand basket.
“Well, there's usually more than just one side of the story. I suppose a lot of it depends on where you get your information and how much stock you put in it,” I said.
“What do you think of Michele Bachmann?” he asked. “She's a pretty nice person, and she tells the truth.”
“Oh,” I said. “You know her personally or have you met her?”
“No, but I've heard her speak a couple of times,” he said expecting that I would simply cheer over his intimate knowledge of Bachmann.
“Well, to tell the truth, I don't think too much of her,” I said.
“Why not?” he asked. “She tells the truth and she is a patriot. She for freedom and the constitution and the Second amendment right to bear arms...
“Patriot? Truth? Freedom and the constitution – it all depends on what you mean by those words,”I said. “She hasn't shown me anything – if she wants to help the people of the 6th District why didn't she advocate for some money to help rebuild the DeSoto Bridge, or get some of the other money that's going to other states? But she didn't, and she won't. But she's not shy about showing up for a photo op at the bridge.”
As a writer for one of the small papers in the area, I've had the opportunity to meet Bachmannn and spent the better part of a day with her. I've attended several press conferences, and received the phone calls to her constituents as well as her newsletters. I too, have heard her give speeches and sound bites around the country side, and I've even gone to her web site to read what she claims to have accomplished.
Several months back, I was with some friends in Laughlin, Nevada at a Diamond Rio concert. We sat at a table and were enjoying a drink waiting for the concert to start. They have these long tables in what might be called the bull pen where all the adoring sheeple, uuh – fans (sorry about that) are kind of put in their proper places. Several other people were placed at out table.
One of the women started up what seemed like a friendly conversation. It wasn't long before I had learned that she and her husband lived in Michigan now, but they were originally from New Jersey and they were looking for some place where they could be a little more “free”.
“Mmmmm,” I said not thinking too much about what she had said.
“And where are you from?” asked this chatterbox of a woman.
“We're from Minnesota, St. Cloud and Shakopee area,” my wife replied.
“What congressional district are you in?” the Miss Chatterbox asked.
My wife is not too political preferring to expend her energies on things that are worth while. And so she deferred to me.
“We're in the 6th District,” I volunteered.
“Oh, that's Michele Bachmann's district. You are so lucky,” said Miss Chatterbox. “She's really a very good Congressman.”
“Oh, really? Do you know her?” I asked. “Have you met her ?”
“No, but she is for freedom --- and the second amendment and the right to bear arms,” Miss Chatterbox replied. “Have you met her?”
“Yes,” I replied. “And I can't say I'm very impressed. I write for a small town newspaper and I've followed her around to different functions. Can't say I've ever heard her speak much about the second amendment. And I can't say she has done a lot for the 6th District. Not much in the way of bridges, roads, military bases --- just a lot of talk and noise.”
“My husband and I – we just love her,” Miss Chatterbox said in kind of a huff.
“Well, you're one of the few,” I said.
About that time, Diamond Rio was introduced and since it was impossible to talk over the music, the matter was dropped. After the concert, Miss Chatterbox and her party quickly left the scene while we stayed behind waiting for the hall to clear out.
Over the past several years, I've worked as a reporter for a small town newspaper, and it has been part of my responsibility to keep myself abreast of what our “political people” are saying and doing. And so I have met a number of them. I'm here to tell you they aren't any smarter or more insightful than anyone else. They have a more ready access to more information, and they have a lot of “advisors” who clue them in on what position is probably best for their political careers, but in terms of actually looking out for what is best for the country, their district, their town or county – not so much.
They are for the most part “beholden to the party” - Republican or Democrat or some other orthodoxy. And they spout the party line and vote the party line in the state house or Congress or city hall or county board. They all (including Ms Bachmann) do what is necessary to keep their seats and Congressional paychecks coming, and hold on to whatever form of influence they might have in their private little fiefdom.
Lincoln was supposed to have said that “you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.”
Maybe when Lincoln was President that was the case. But I am not so sure the same is true today. It seems to me that more and more people are having a difficult time being discriminating critical thinkers. They are too impressed with the “flash and cash” of the flim-flam artist. We suffer from a national affliction of ADD - that's right Attention Deficit Disorder. And of course we want it everything to be simple without too much thought involved. Lately that is especially true of the man this country elected as their President – and his advisors as well. Making policy by tweet and on the golf courses on weekends isn't really a good way to run a government.
And that is how a lot of politicians and radio talk jocks make their living. They give us the simple version of “the truth”. I would like to say I have an answer for this – some kind of solution. But I suspect it is akin to a young child being admonished not to run on hard pavement. They laugh and pay no heed to warnings, enjoying the thrill of the run. And when they fall and lay bare the layers of skin encrusted with stones and dirt, they have learned a valuable lesson in one short moment that no amount of admonishment could have taught them.
So it is with the American citizenry. But it is such a long and painful process.
It happened to me several years ago when I went grocery shopping. I wrote about it briefly then, but it occurred to me that I should revisit this shopping expedition and what I had said about it then. Little has changed since then in the way of my opinion, but I updated and added some clalrifying remarks.
I was in the fruit section minding my business, looking at a watermelon when an old geezer in a motorized shopping cart pulls up opposite to me. I didn't think anything of it and went on examining the melons trying to make sure they were grown in the United States instead of Mexico or Costa Rica.
To be sure, I have nothing against Mexico or Costa Rica personally, but I've bought melons from those places, and they just don't taste right. I'm not sure if it's the soil, the fertilizer, or the rain, or the way they are shipped, but there is something about a melon from south of the border that just gives it an odd taste. In mid winter, they look mighty nice, but they taste terrible.
So as I was standing there contemplating whether to trust the label that said grown in the USA, the old man began his conversation with me.
“You ever been to Aldi's?” he asked.
I assured him that I had.
“You can save a good deal of money if you were to buy this same melon at Aldi's,” he said. “Here they want $4.98 and at Aldi's they are asking $3.68.”
“The problem is that I'm here now, and I'd have to go clear across town to buy the melon,” I said. “I want to make sure that they are grown in the U.S. I'm willing to pay a little more for a melon grown in the U.S.“
“Oh, you can save on other things, too,” he said. “Like the cereal. It's a lot cheaper there than it is here unless you buy the store brands. Store brands here are generally cheaper, cause ever since Cub moved out, they've been raising their prices.”
“Yeah,” I said, “but I'm not so sure it's just because Cub moved out. Prices have been going up all over, and not just on groceries. The only thing not going up is people's wages.”
“Hey, you know how to tell a good melon?
“Yeah, you thump 'em,” I said.
“Yeah, or you can core them,” he said.
“They might not think too highly of that if I cored several of them.”
About this time, several other shoppers came through and I thought I should move and leave the aisle open. I excused myself thinking that I had practiced being Minnesota Nice just chatting with the old man and being respectful toward him. But he wasn't done. He followed me to the cantaloupe section. That's when he started talking politics.
I'm not sure what attracted him to me, but apparently I was wearing some sort of mark of the political neophyte or something. At any rate he began to tell me about the Tea Party and how he talked to folks about it and how Obama was taking the country to hell in a hand basket.
“Well, there's usually more than just one side of the story. I suppose a lot of it depends on where you get your information and how much stock you put in it,” I said.
“What do you think of Michele Bachmann?” he asked. “She's a pretty nice person, and she tells the truth.”
“Oh,” I said. “You know her personally or have you met her?”
“No, but I've heard her speak a couple of times,” he said expecting that I would simply cheer over his intimate knowledge of Bachmann.
“Well, to tell the truth, I don't think too much of her,” I said.
“Why not?” he asked. “She tells the truth and she is a patriot. She for freedom and the constitution and the Second amendment right to bear arms...
“Patriot? Truth? Freedom and the constitution – it all depends on what you mean by those words,”I said. “She hasn't shown me anything – if she wants to help the people of the 6th District why didn't she advocate for some money to help rebuild the DeSoto Bridge, or get some of the other money that's going to other states? But she didn't, and she won't. But she's not shy about showing up for a photo op at the bridge.”
As a writer for one of the small papers in the area, I've had the opportunity to meet Bachmannn and spent the better part of a day with her. I've attended several press conferences, and received the phone calls to her constituents as well as her newsletters. I too, have heard her give speeches and sound bites around the country side, and I've even gone to her web site to read what she claims to have accomplished.
Several months back, I was with some friends in Laughlin, Nevada at a Diamond Rio concert. We sat at a table and were enjoying a drink waiting for the concert to start. They have these long tables in what might be called the bull pen where all the adoring sheeple, uuh – fans (sorry about that) are kind of put in their proper places. Several other people were placed at out table.
One of the women started up what seemed like a friendly conversation. It wasn't long before I had learned that she and her husband lived in Michigan now, but they were originally from New Jersey and they were looking for some place where they could be a little more “free”.
“Mmmmm,” I said not thinking too much about what she had said.
“And where are you from?” asked this chatterbox of a woman.
“We're from Minnesota, St. Cloud and Shakopee area,” my wife replied.
“What congressional district are you in?” the Miss Chatterbox asked.
My wife is not too political preferring to expend her energies on things that are worth while. And so she deferred to me.
“We're in the 6th District,” I volunteered.
“Oh, that's Michele Bachmann's district. You are so lucky,” said Miss Chatterbox. “She's really a very good Congressman.”
“Oh, really? Do you know her?” I asked. “Have you met her ?”
“No, but she is for freedom --- and the second amendment and the right to bear arms,” Miss Chatterbox replied. “Have you met her?”
“Yes,” I replied. “And I can't say I'm very impressed. I write for a small town newspaper and I've followed her around to different functions. Can't say I've ever heard her speak much about the second amendment. And I can't say she has done a lot for the 6th District. Not much in the way of bridges, roads, military bases --- just a lot of talk and noise.”
“My husband and I – we just love her,” Miss Chatterbox said in kind of a huff.
“Well, you're one of the few,” I said.
About that time, Diamond Rio was introduced and since it was impossible to talk over the music, the matter was dropped. After the concert, Miss Chatterbox and her party quickly left the scene while we stayed behind waiting for the hall to clear out.
Over the past several years, I've worked as a reporter for a small town newspaper, and it has been part of my responsibility to keep myself abreast of what our “political people” are saying and doing. And so I have met a number of them. I'm here to tell you they aren't any smarter or more insightful than anyone else. They have a more ready access to more information, and they have a lot of “advisors” who clue them in on what position is probably best for their political careers, but in terms of actually looking out for what is best for the country, their district, their town or county – not so much.
They are for the most part “beholden to the party” - Republican or Democrat or some other orthodoxy. And they spout the party line and vote the party line in the state house or Congress or city hall or county board. They all (including Ms Bachmann) do what is necessary to keep their seats and Congressional paychecks coming, and hold on to whatever form of influence they might have in their private little fiefdom.
Lincoln was supposed to have said that “you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.”
Maybe when Lincoln was President that was the case. But I am not so sure the same is true today. It seems to me that more and more people are having a difficult time being discriminating critical thinkers. They are too impressed with the “flash and cash” of the flim-flam artist. We suffer from a national affliction of ADD - that's right Attention Deficit Disorder. And of course we want it everything to be simple without too much thought involved. Lately that is especially true of the man this country elected as their President – and his advisors as well. Making policy by tweet and on the golf courses on weekends isn't really a good way to run a government.
And that is how a lot of politicians and radio talk jocks make their living. They give us the simple version of “the truth”. I would like to say I have an answer for this – some kind of solution. But I suspect it is akin to a young child being admonished not to run on hard pavement. They laugh and pay no heed to warnings, enjoying the thrill of the run. And when they fall and lay bare the layers of skin encrusted with stones and dirt, they have learned a valuable lesson in one short moment that no amount of admonishment could have taught them.
So it is with the American citizenry. But it is such a long and painful process.