Four weeks and two days......... we have four weeks and two days of political wrangling ahead of us, now that the date of the General Election has been announced. Finally. This is not a suprise to the nation, let me tell you. It has been going on for months. And this is as political as this blog is going to get, people. They have been pontificating on tv since dawn, and I am already ready to rip the plug from the wall.
There has been a parade of obscure pundits spewing views, and I have to say I have been more fascinated by their teeth, their carefully chosen ties and their excitement than the vitriol which has spouted from their lips. Please tell me when we will get to the stage where the whole lot of them sit down, and talk civilly to each other??? Not in this lifetime.
However, this is not what I meant to chat about this fine and sunny Tuesday morning. No. I wanted to tell you about the views I heard re technology and votes and electioneering. "They" seem to think that the techno demography consists of 20 somethings. "They" talk about people preferring to read leaflets dropped through the doors, meet candidates on the doorstep and such like, and that facebook and twitter and THEY FORGOT BLOGS are not really that important, and the domain of the young. Hmmm. Mr Obama may beg to differ. His campaign mastered the techo world with vigour, and no matter what your political persuasion may be, that is something everyone would concede.
So I listened to the little man on the studio sofa (who was not young - maybe my age perhaps??) saying that the old ways work best, and I thought.....hello? I am not 20 something. I have being tweeting since long before just about anyone in public life in the UK knew it existed or what it was. I have been blogging and have been a part of the blogging community for years now. I use facebook. The average age of my friends is not 20 something. Nor are we techno morons. Nor, come to that, are we fluffy airheads. We are thinking, intelligent articulate women, who are not daunted by technology, and who enjoy global forums. (That sounds impressive, doesn't it!) I am absolutely not the only middle aged woman in the country doing just that - embracing modern methods of communication.
However, having said that, I do not want politicians popping up leaving comments. Nor do I want their twitter feed filling my home page. Nor do I want to be "their friends". I do not want them arriving on the doorstep in waves either....think - every candidate appearing at different times......I can choose to bin the leaflets. Switch off the tv if I have had a surfeit of politics. I don't think they have a clue how many people switch channels when party political broadcasts appear. Politicians and the real world do not meet on very many fronts, after all.
My vote will be used wisely, after lengthy consideration, and in keeping with my views. Nothing anyone can come up with in just four weeks and two days, after the inescapeable debacle of the UK and world politics and economics of the past 2 years, is going to change that now. I have a brain, which I use regularly, thankyouverymuch.
But to presume that the techno world is the preserve of the young and carefree is a mistake.
Come to think of it, bring on some sitting politicians - to my front door. I have some questions re hospitals, cover-ups, the Freedom of Information Act, the inability of government office(r)s to carry out the simplest of procedures, and a host of other issues to discuss. I rather suspect they may depart at speed.
Ayeyaiyai. Maybe I should stand for parliament. I always fancied being the Speaker, and yelling "Order ORDER" at the top of my voice.
I may have to rediscover my DVD collection. Little house on the prairie sounds perfect right now. Pity they all appear as little green people on my tv. (It is approaching its final death throes.) But in the meantime, my camellia is starting to flower, and I can't remember a time when it had more buds. Just beautiful. The tulips are also starting to flower, the lilac is in bud, and the irises are shooting up. The Easter decorations will be coming down this week, and time moves on.
And I reserve the right to issue my own State of the Nation Address one of these days. Hahahahaha.
3 comments:
I agree with you!!!! I hate all of that stuff on television.
It gets very old, I'm sure. At least the process is not as drawn out as ours. I agree with you. I want no cyber visits from politicians unless I do the inviting. I don't much care for drop-ins and don't leaves.
Oh I soooooooo agree with you on this topic!!!!!! I HATE it when all the political stuff is on tv every waking moment before an election! H.A.T.E. it! I don't believe half what they say and you know they can't do half what they say they can do. Thank goodness for cable and I can tune them out!
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