Election by gaffe, by damn!

A New York magazine piece online that I came across brilliantly defines what is the biggest problem today in politics. No, I’m not talking about Mitt Romney nor John Boehner. Nor do I speak of Barack Obama. I am talking about “the gaffe.” The article relates how so-called “deconstructionist” political writers turn the mole hill into a mountain where the fact with the least significance becomes the day’s leading story.

The article, by veteran writer and editor Jonathan Chait, doesn’t have to explain the Marshall McLuhan theory regarding the message and the medium to follow the line out where media and politics intersect.

Campaign beat reporters have seemingly never-ending periods where nothing of substance surfaces so the latest gaffe, or gossip, or garbage begets the day’s top political news story which may or not move the polls a point or two. This might even leave the bonus of a self-fulfilling bit for the eventing cable show.

Presidential campaign beats are coveted because the reporters who cover the winner often ends up in that elite of the elite, the White House press corps. I spent some time with those folks, so all I have to say to potential permanent pool members is Lotsa Luck. Don’t try to breathe too much of that rarefied air at one time and if your salary doesn’t grow exponentially, at least your butt will, eating all those catered meals that your cohorts loathe to share with the poor waifs from the local pools. Too much inside baseball there, sorry.

A discussion of political news today is usually less-than flattering and it is a shame because there are still many good writers out there. Too often though, the news with the least effort and the biggest bang ends up as the day’s story line. What John Q. Public reads or sees on TV when he gets home is the inconsequential framed by the insignificant.

The high and mighty of the political world — mostly those trying to make a cheap point — often remind us poor slobs of the intent of those who formed our imperfect union. I’m speaking of whom “Honest Abe” called ” … our fathers who set forth on this continent a new nation … ” and so forth. Mostly these are folks who somehow believe they glean all reasoning of the Franklins and the Jeffersons. I speak of Ben and Thomas, not the $100 bill Franklins nor George and Weezy Jeffersons.

Okay, so what would our foredads have to say about how the direction of politics these days happens to fly like a drunken buzzard? Just what we intended? A magnificent republic? What the f**k?

Welcome to our brave new world. The home of the free. The land of all-u-can eat politics. Ooops. Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that.