A Three Ring Circus in the Seven Circles of Hell

Hmmm, is it worth allthe craziness to end up right back where we started?

I voted at the advancepoll last weekend partially to avoid the lineups next Monday. But alsopartially so I could justify tuning out all the rhetoric, backbiting andmudslinging among the political parties and their leaders in the last week ofthe campaign.

The shortened lead timefor the election this year seems to have amped up the nastiness. All the partyleaders – with the pleasant except of Green Party Leader Annamie Paul – appeardetermined to get in as much maligning as they would have in a longer run-up,if not more. Slander is now an approved election tactic.

Most people I speak withsay the same thing: If all you can do is tell me why I should not vote for theother guy, why should I vote for you?

But the behind the sceneexperts appear hopelessly out of touch. They still believe negativity willtranslate to votes. Maybe they are just caught up in a vicious, addictivecircle from which there is no escape. But hey, it pays well.

The particular electionhas the added elements of the pandemic and the vaccine passport issue to addfuel to the fire. They are political hand grenades that the party leaders keeplobbing back and forth hoping they will blow up in someone else’s hand. But ofcourse, they make sure to get as much mileage out of the issues as they can inthe process.

Trudeau is beingskewered for breaking his promise not to call an election during the pandemic.He is spinning the issue as be he can. I really did not want to do it, but Ihad to. We need a new mandate because the old one is… well… never mind about that.Choose forward to get the country through the pandemic. It hasn’t gone so wellthus far, but… well, never mind about that.

O’Toole is doing his bestto play both sides of the vaccine issue. Urging everyone to get vaccinatedwithout telling them they have to do so, except that you should, but not if youreally don’t want to, but you should want to, but not really. The only way tosecure the future is to vote Conservative. And a vote for the People’s Party isa vote for the Liberals.

Singh is charting acourse down the middle as political expediency dictates for the third horse inthe race. Everyone should get vaccinated. Its Trudeau’s fault that some havenot. O’Toole is part of the problem. Look at the mess the Conservatives landedAlberta in. We should not be in an election. But since we are, vote for me. We’refighting for you. No. not you, theultra-rich.

It is all a three ringcircus that has landed us in the seven circles of hell. Spirally madly downwardto an election day when chances are we will end up right back where we started –but $600 million deeper in debt and more divided than ever before.

I will be so glad whenthe whole charade is over. Well, not glad exactly. Relieved, perhaps, that themudslinging is done. Hopefully, it will take four full years to clean the mudoff all their boots.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

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