Is it just me or is anyone else becoming politically exhausted? No matter where I turn these days, it is 24/7 of political commentary, opinion, breaking news, blah, blah, blah. And it is much more than just the latest ranting and raving of Trump and his family, supporters and detractors – it seems to be worldwide – Britain, Canada, Germany, OMG – the Mideast, Philippines, China, Venezuela,  Brexit, EU, trade wars, immigration and terrorism – just to name a few of the politically charged stories that are inundating us. I don’t know if it is age, or the age we live in, but it seems impossible to escape as we see wall to wall videos on YouTube, Facebook and TV news, along with constant news updates on our car radios, newspapers (there are still some left aren’t there?) and virtually every social media opportunity that exists.

Everyone seems to be getting in on the act as politicians of every stripe and intelligence level weigh in on everything they see (whether they have any real ability to effect change or not) and anyone with an audience is compelled to let their opinions be known to their followers. I’m simply getting tired of it – what about you? Social gatherings require us to respond to questions about what we think of this crisis or that. In our own city, just the possibility of building a new hockey arena has become a source of accusations and political invective that is laced with personal accusations and blame – get over it – build the damn arena – there’s enough money to pay for it!

People are turning away from the political arena by the thousands as they tire of the never ending diatribe and become wary, as well as weary, of the constant bickering and accusations, unfounded criticism, and outright hatred foisted upon us as “news.” “Aye, but there’s the rub,” a much bigger danger than exhaustion lurks when we choose to ignore the political unrealities of the day, but first a work from our unsponsors…

BOOMER TUNE ALERT

OK, hands up anyone who doesn’t have a copy of “RUMOURS” by FLEETWOOD MAC in their music collection. I didn’t think so. The eighth highest selling album of all time with over 40 million copies sold, it was released in 1977. The band seemed to be in constant turmoil with members coming and going, romantic relationships on and off, and various members leaving and returning but wow, could they turn out the hits. Rumours sat on top of the Billboard list for over 30 weeks and garnered awards and still commands an incredible amount of play time on stations worldwide.

Lindsey Buckingham leads the way on “Go Your Own Way”  and may seem an apt addition to this post.

Go ahead, listen again and turn it up louder – I can wait.

The real danger of political exhaustion is that intelligent people stop listening. They ignore the posturing and nonsense that surrounds the political arena. Political freedom and democracy are messy, tiresome and full of people who are there only to promote their own agendas. The scary part is that if history teaches us anything, then we cannot afford to ignore what is being done in our name. Smarter people than me have warned that if good men ignore what their leaders are doing, then the leaders easily become demagogues out for their own interests and that becomes something far more complicated and scary than democracy. That is when totalitarianism becomes reality. Stay focused and make these leaders remain transparent and accountable. Read not only the viewpoints that you agree with but the opposition as well – alternate ideas may help pave the way to true freedom and democracy.