First rule of civics class

You may have noticed it's political season — again. These days it seems as if it's always political season. Some folks already are working on the 2016 election even before the polling machines have been set up for this year's election.

Something else you may have noticed is that politics has changed some through the years, and not for the better. I know folks always have had political differences, and the Democrats and Republicans haven't really thought much of each other, and that dirty politics isn't anything new.

Ever since the first beans were dropped into a coconut shell to vote for leader of the cave, politicians have thrown mud ... literally, back then. Maybe even dinosaur chips, according to what some folks believe. To me, politics always seemed like a legalized version of organized crime, and I apologize to members of organized crime for comparing them to politicians.

I got my first taste of politics in Mr. Pinkham's civics class at DeKalb High School. He was the principal, too, so everyone made sure to pay attention in class. We learned the basics of how government works, how bills were introduced and passed to become laws (he said always support legislation benefiting the elderly because we'd all get old someday) and the basics about different political thought and philosophy. My class even went to an election watch party at Mr. Pinkham's house.

I remembered what I'd been taught in civics class as I went forth into the world, learning the issues and voting my conscience, casting ballots for who and what I thought would be best. I still vote that way. However, through the intervening years I learned the real world of politics is a lot different from the civics class version. You see, we were taught how things are supposed to work ideally. The real world is not ideal, and neither is politics.

The older I've gotten, and the more I've dealt with politicians, the more cynical I've become about politics. You may have noticed that here on occasion. I still admire those who are good public servants, but it's gotten so I count them on the fingers of one hand, and have fingers left.

Still, there are some things I find amusing in politics today. For example, political advertizing. Some of these campaign commercials have worse acting than a straight-to-DVD movie. And the paranoia to be found in them with opponents shown as being nothing more than puppets of master manipulators is astounding. You'd think the Koch Brothers are members of the Illuminati and every Democratic candidate right down to dog catcher works directly for President Obama. Sometimes I wonder who the candidates are running against.

There are a couple of radio spots I've heard for an Arkansas candidate that I find hilarious. Of course, the fact I remember them shows they're effective in that way. The ads feature a song, one with children and the other with adults. My favorite is the one with the adults singing, and the candidate promising "gobs and gobs" of jobs and getting cash "in a flash" for his county. They're both done to a melody that reminds me of the scene in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory when the singing mechanical puppets greet the people, then burst into flames. So, maybe the spot isn't that effective on me after all since I instantly go from the candidate to Willie Wonka.

They're still better than those attack ads in which candidates' minions hit the opponents below the belt, usually suggesting the opponents are the slimiest people in the world who would sell their grandmothers to white slavers and kick their dogs when they get home every night. The attacked respond by saying the other candidates are devil worshipers who would steal everything you own and give it to foreign villains. And those are the polite commercials.

Fortunately, there's only a month to go before this year's election is over ... and the 2016 campaign begins in earnest.