Prattle Battle

You're only young once, but you can be immature forever.

   The current presidential campaign -- with Election Day still 15 months away -- has become a prattle battle, with little or no discussion of substantive issues. Americans are being GOP-smacked by an overcrowded Republican field of hopefuls, who are dishing out insult, invective, pettiness and childish behavior that normally is expected from recalcitrant juveniles, but not from allegedly mature adults.
   The candidates on the Democratic side, meanwhile, are not getting the exposure they deserve, as television news producers focus on the more outrageous or entertaining of the candidates.
   And rather than answer a direct question from reporters, candidates obfuscate, ignore the premise of the question, and rattle on at great length over their previously prepared talking points. There's nothing new here, of course. Politicians have been doing this for generations, but this year it seems more obvious than before.
   Coupled with the practice of ignoring fact or reality when truth does not fit with their campaign strategy, it's enough to drive a serious voter to strong anger, and a wish to be able to vote for None Of The Above.
   Part of the blame certainly goes to the media, especially television "news" programs, which pick up on the most outlandish behavior and fail to push for answers to direct questions when the candidate ignores the premise. This could be either because the politician does not want to deal with the question, or because he or she is ignorant of the subject. Or it could be that the interviewers don't have the knowledge or the courage to push the candidate for answers.
   There are indeed some major network news hosts who have the ability and knowledge to back a candidate into a corner when answers are not provided, but far too often, the candidates themselves refuse to appear with these journalists. This is usually because they fear that the holes in their positions will be exposed, or they feel they will be unable to control the interview.
   Here lies the danger: That the public may have to choose between two ignoramuses to be the next president of the nation, or that the successful candidate will be the one most able to control the information flow.
   Big Brother is waiting in the wings.