POLITICS

Elected public service should be a noble undertaking.  Sacrificing time for the good of the community or country is not something most of us would do.  Here's the "BUT".  Rarely, it seems, are the motives what they should be, or if they are in the beginning, soon change to less noble intentions.

The system does seem to corrupt even the best intentioned neophytes.  If you don't "play along" to "get along", you find yourself in a position where you are rejected and therefore ineffective.  Only a very few have the fortitude to persevere and stick to their principles in the face of these tactics.  Entrenched politicians have "long arms" and can retaliate against honest people in ways we cannot even imagine.  Even presidents have been known to illegally "go after" enemies using the FBI and IRS to harass and intimidate citizens.

Political campaigns reveal much about the character of candidates.  Most make promises they know they cannot keep and many engage in rhetoric worthy only of  the lowest human life forms.  Skip the garbage.  Just tell us what you stand for.  Enumerate your principles which will tell us your philosophy of government.  If you have plans, tell us about them and how you hope to implement them, but don't waste my time telling me how bad the other candidates are.  I'll make that decision.

If there were a way to do it, I would favor making all candidates take the courtroom oath to tell the truth before making any political speech.  I fear the silence would be deafening but a great relief.