A matter of perspective......

Y’know, being old (or older) gives you a perspective that youth just can’t have...now, it don’t necessarily follow that age brings wisdom...if you’re dumb when you’re young, there’s a better’n even chance that you’re gonna be dumb when you get old....that said, we all know what we know only in relation to ourselves and how things relate to us. In other words, I only know what I know ‘n unlike Will Rogers, it ain’t from what I read in the newspapers. Or from NBC. Talk about faded glory. That venerable old institution has become a ridiculous parody of what it used to be. I’ve been watching NBC since the days of Dave Garroway (and the nite’s of Jack Paar)...’n I still like Tom Brokaw tho’ I feel he must cringe at the thought of Brian Williams and his nitely recitation of the newspeak he’s given to read. One of the things about being old(er) is recalling when you actually believed that Cronkite was being truthful, that he valued his own reputation above and beyond his salary.
Of course, I recall as a young man growing up in Greenup County, Kentucky, that everyone knew that politics was ‘bent’....that friends and family were rewarded and foes were trashed...that every four years (at election time) the roads would get a fresh coat of asphalt....and that suddenly the candidates would remember your name...
Well, heck....it was just ‘southern’ politics.....local stuff, y’know.....disillusionment set in with age...I think it was Tip O’Neill who said, “all politics is local.” Federal politicians are no better than State politicians who are no better than local politicians....There is no honor among thieves.....and as calling someone a ‘used car salesman’ denotes a lack of character, calling anyone ‘political’ infers a lack of integrity. My Mother dismissed the entire Kennedy family by remarking that “the Kennedy’s were always political.”
Now, in my way back when daze, I voted for John Kennedy for Prez.....He had a ‘vigah’ that was definitely lacking in poor old Nixon....of course, I didn’t really listen to what either of them said actually....I only heard what I wanted to hear...looking back from the perspective of age, Kennedy was affable, charming, and, what’s that word so popular t’day, charismatic ....Nixon, on that proverbial other hand, wasn’t. What he was, was smart, knowledgeable and nerdy. Kennedy went down in history as the Prince of Camelot and Nixon became known as ‘Tricky Dick’.....and my Mother was right, what the Kennedy’s lack in integrity, they make up for with Irish blather. A blatherskite is a Scotch-Irish term meaning a scoundrel who talks at great length without making much sense.
I’d like to point out that not all blatherer’s are scoundrels just as all scoundrels are not blatherer’s....
I’m not sure how that applies to politicians.....but,
“somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright; the band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light......”