Surprise! Surprise!

I was minding my own business watching a little television in these waning days before the elections and then it happened.

I got splattered with the mud of campaign rhetoric.

After the elections, Congress and Legislatures convene to do the work of governing and they often marvel at the low opinion they carry in the eyes of the general public. The problem seems to be their memories are too short.

Just a few short months before, the airways and papers and campaign trails were full of folks talking about how one's opponent was a liar, a traitor, and a thief--not necessarily in that order.

It would appear to me these folks don't think much about the consequences of such campaign tactics. I do.

Someone is going to win the election. Generally speaking, it is someone who is running for the office. Generally speaking, it is someone who campaigns for the office. Generally speaking, it is someone that is muddy from "slung mud" and from "slinging mud." Rule of thumb is that one cannot throw mud without getting some of that mud on oneself. So here we are.

At least two campaign; both of which are portrayed as (see above). One wins and yet what is the general public to believe? Well, in my practice I have a phrase I use about destructive behavior. I call it "fouling one's own back yard."

That seems to be the current trend in the world of politics. If politicians want a better relationship between the voters and themselves, quit calling each other liars and thieves. No wonder we don't trust politicians. They have painted their opponents in the worst possible light, so what are we left to conclude? After the smoke clears, are they no longer what they were portrayed to be? Were they ever? Were differences of opinion called something else? Were these in fact simply different philosophical ideas, different approaches, different ways of understanding problems?

If Congressmen and women want the public to trust them more, perhaps they need to recast their rhetoric and get away from invectives and "mudding."

It might restore some confidence in the political system. Strange as it seems, that might be a good thing.