Read The Platforms: BUY A GUN

The day after John McCain’s acceptance speech at the Republican convention, I asked a friend if she had listened to it. She replied that indeed she had, and, in fact, had watched or listened to all the speeches given at both conventions. I enquired if she were alright, mentioned that help probably was available for her, and was there anything she needed to talk about? She said she would be fine in a few days. Had she come to any conclusions based on the ordeal, I asked? “Just one,” she replied. “Buy a gun.”

Here is her logic: it was all blah, blah, blah from both parties. People did a lot of name calling. People used trite and meaningless slogans. People spoke with flowery language that could mean just about anything you want it to mean. All was vacuous and vapid. No one, not one, spoke about the issues and what we need to do. No one said we are in terminal trouble. No one came clean. Not one. All of them just went blah, blah, blah. So she said, “Buy a gun.” I think she meant that even though we may be in terminal trouble, all the politicians are going to lie, and tell us there isn’t any thing wrong that they can’t fix. What problems we have are the other guy’s fault, but if you just vote for me all will be buttercups and bluebirds. God bless America and all that.

I must admit that this is a compelling idea that at first glance appears reasonable. But can it be tested? Is there some standard by which it can be measured? There just may be. You see there is that often over looked benchmark: the party platforms. I know that every one is now thinking about the old political joke. What are party platforms good for? Walking all over after the election. But I have always thought they can be taken more seriously. After all, the parties spend a lot of time on them, months and months really. Being selected to serve on your party’s platform committee is considered an honor, and much political jockeying goes on around who gets on the committee and who stays off. This is another way of saying whose ideas get on and whose ideas stay off. And, since a national party is an alliance of fifty state parties, let’s not forget their platforms.

So, for the next couple of articles, we’ll take a look at some “terminal issues” (which, of course, I will select) that the national platforms address, or fail to address. We may even look at the state party platforms of some highly placed national politicians. Remember that since national politicians are elected state by state, these local documents may shed more light on the path the politicians want to lead us down. And since all the party platforms, national and state, have a way of going into more detail than the gas bag speeches politicians frequently give, I wonder what we’ll find? That my friend was right? That we all need to out and buy a gun?