Anyway, this is what Tennis said:
We are all more than one thing. We all desire more than we have. We all harbor desires that push against boundaries. We all have impulses that we cannot act on because of the consequences. The way to live a civilized, compassionate life is to remain alert to these things and thus grow wise about their nature.
Believe it or not, I have a tendency to be a bit of a cock-eyed optimist. I generally try to batter that in sarcasm and deep fry in in irony (I am a southerner). But apparently my crispy, crunchy outer coating sometimes flakes off. What are you gonna do?
But in having gotten called out recently for floating happy rhetoric with perhaps less substance than some of you desire behind it, Mr. Tennis' remarks somehow seemed fitting.
Somewhere inside, politicians are still people, just like you and me. And they are more than one thing, just like we are. I am southern, but that is not all that I am. I am a woman, but more than that. I am a writer, but that means different things to different people. The people running for president must want that position in a way that few of us can imagine. Just think about something that you have wanted more than anything and not been sure you were going to get—and I mean something big, not a flat screen tv. I know I have been in that position and it will drive you to do and think and feel things that you never thought you would. Desire is strange like that.
I don't really know what I am saying here, but it is just something that made me think. Maybe it will make you think too.
5 comments:
Very insightful. Of course politicians are real people beneath all the talk. But a lot of Americans, however, don't want to see them that way. It's easier for their tiny little brains to figure things out if you paint someone in broad strokes. (Just this morning some yahoo on the radio insisted that Obama was Muslim!)
But to the writer's point about wanting something big--I question whether many voters can relate. I think, for some, getting that flat screen TV is the most they've ever wanted. Maybe I'm the crazy one, but I like to think I'm moderately ambitious--and yet I have some friends and acquaintances who are perfectly content to look no further than the end of their nose.
good post broad. i do think we forget that politicians are human too. we get caught up in the rhetoric. as anti-political as i am i do have to give anyone who runs for office props. seriously, who REALLY wants their every move scrutinized in the media? who wants their pasts delved in to and all their skeletons to come out? i suppose we should be grateful there are people willing to do it cos i sure as hell wouldn't.
CK
maybe i should get deep more often. good responses guys!
did anyone get the nod to SNL?
Good post! Glad to see (read) that you're acknowledging your vulnerabilities. It's hard. I try to cover mine with sarcasm, too. And humor. Drives my more openly emotional friends nuts.
I have a hard time seeing a politician beyond their office. Especially the ones I don't like. Makes it easier to criticize them if they're not human.
I did find myself looking at the photos of Jenna Bush's wedding without thinking snarky things. That's a start.
Sweet T
jack handy thoughts? : ) yes, of course i noticed.
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