{"id":8353,"date":"2016-07-25T06:00:49","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T10:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=8353"},"modified":"2016-07-24T19:11:17","modified_gmt":"2016-07-24T23:11:17","slug":"cant-watch-anymore-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/07\/cant-watch-anymore-politics.html","title":{"rendered":"Get Ready for the DNC Bachelorette Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

Has it ever struck you that watching politics is like watching The Bachelorette<\/em>? Get ready\u00a0for\u00a0reality TV at its best!<\/p>\n

Last Friday, after the Republican convention ended, I was listening to Morning Joe<\/em> on the radio on my way into work. Mika was on a tirade about Trump and\u00a0policy. Joe fired back about the hypocrisy of Obama’s hope and change. Mika\u00a0went ballistic\u00a0and wouldn’t give up until she had her way.\u00a0The two were\u00a0literally yelling at each other and I thought, how crazy\u00a0is this? It’s radio reality TV- drama, little real analysis, but entertaining! Despite the entertainment,\u00a0\u00a0those\u00a0conversations shape our opinions.<\/p>\n

Our relationship with political candidates is influenced\u00a0by media\u00a0portrayals. This week at\u00a0the Democratic National Convention, pundits\u00a0will tell\u00a0the Hillary story.\u00a0And media people know the power of story and how to write a\u00a0script.<\/p>\n

We will listen to a speech and then 5 people will tell us\u00a0how to think about it and what\u00a0the speakers were trying to say. Really? \u00a0They\u00a0try to convince us that\u00a0people who lie, don’t. Those who broke the law, didn’t. Those who were rude and insulting were misunderstood. Insensitive remarks were\u00a0taken out of context, etc. They\u00a0narrate the story, hoping we will stay with them until the epilogue.<\/p>\n

And so our\u00a0political version of\u00a0The Bachelorette begins<\/em>. The characters are cast. Hillary is the chosen bachelorette. Sorry no gowns. She wears pantsuits! But word on the street is that, like a gown, one of her pantsuits\u00a0cost a fortune! Look for glitter.<\/p>\n

The bachelors will come out of their limos as the line-up of speakers begin. Hillary will smile, appear intrigued, but she already\u00a0knows to whom she will give a rose.<\/p>\n

Trump is that guy they show in every bad light possible in order to\u00a0develop a villain character. We have to have a villain in the Bachelorette<\/em>–it is standard casting–the one guy the audience is supposed to hate and wantst voted off the show. The pundits will do their\u00a0best to make sure that is Trump. He will be voted off!<\/p>\n

Bernie will provide some drama and make the show\u00a0interesting to watch. He won’t be chosen, but people like him! So he’s the guy who might be the next Bachelor because he is likable- a teaser for next season.<\/p>\n

Then the field narrows. We build up to Kaine who apparently made\u00a0the cut week after week. Like the Bachelorette, Hillary came to find a man. She did and\u00a0will offer\u00a0an\u00a0engagement. We will witness the vows,\u00a0“Tim, will you join me for life together in the White House?” Will he say, “YES?”<\/p>\n

Spoiler alert-the proposal takes\u00a0place in Philadelphia and he says, YES.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, we know who makes the cut, who gets the final rose and who moves out of the convention hall and into our voting booth. The suspense is gone because Hillary has already chosen her man. We may lose a few viewers, but the story will\u00a0still\u00a0be\u00a0entertaining.<\/p>\n

Too bad it won’t be politically enlightening!\u00a0For that to happen, the narrators of both conventions would have to focus on real analysis and ask tough questions to both candidates. Don’t look for this at the DNC.\u00a0The story has already been written.<\/p>\n

Oh well, Here we go again…. Action, camera, speed….<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*We need a little humor-this is not\u00a0intended to support either candidate. Pray and Vote. You may want to skip the media coverage!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Has it ever struck you that watching politics is like watching The Bachelorette? Get ready\u00a0for\u00a0reality TV at its best! Last Friday, after the Republican convention ended, I was listening to Morning Joe on the radio on my way into work. Mika was on a tirade about Trump and\u00a0policy. Joe fired back about the hypocrisy of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[925],"tags":[3559,3557,3558,3560,111,322,3561,3562],"class_list":["post-8353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mintle-mentions","tag-bachelorette","tag-dnc","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-kaine","tag-politics","tag-reality-tv","tag-trump","tag-watching-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nGet Ready for the DNC Bachelorette Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/07\/cant-watch-anymore-politics.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Get Ready for the DNC Bachelorette Show\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Has it ever struck you that watching politics is like watching The Bachelorette? 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