Avoiding politics

Now that Labor Day has passed and the election is approaching, I’m sensing that more people (that is, more normal people) are finally starting to pay attention to politics. Let’s face it, political junkies aren’t normal. I would include myself in the abnormal demographic; I probably spend too much time discussing politics on this blog and I probably should turn my attention to other matters more often.

It’s getting difficult, though, because politics has a tendency to insinuate itself into other realms. You have a hard time getting through an interview with any Hollywood airhead without getting some sort of political harangue. Whether it’s Susan Sarandon or the Dixie Chicks, Sean Penn or Penn Jillette, they all seem to have some opinion on offer, and, to be honest, I’ve yet to hear an original thought from any of them, although Jillette’s f-you brand of libertarianism has some novelty value.

I’m also a big sports fan. For as long as I can remember, various politicians have attempted to corral sports heroes into varying political camps. One of the more fascinating passages in “When Pride Still Mattered,” David Maraniss’s excellent 1999 biography of Vince Lombardi, concerns the efforts of David Carley, a Madison-area businessman with strong ties to the Wisconsin Democratic Party, to enlist Lombardi into the Wisconsin political scene. Lombardi possessed a strong Jesuit sensibility that made him receptive to the Democrat message, but ultimately he could not stomach the anti-war crazies who were then transforming the party. And Marie was a Republican.

Still, I find that many people are quite capable of ignoring the politicians and thinking about the issues that underlie most of our debates. There are so many things to do in a given day that most people are able to find ways to avoid these sorts of discussions. I find I think about politics more and more, even though I have less faith than ever that my individual voice will make a lot of difference in how things develop.

So we talk about politics around here. That’s not gonna stop. But I am going to make a conscious effort to write about other things that interest me as well. I hope that the other topics interest you, too. If not, I always recommend a stop at www.umlautfree.com