Be Careful What You Wish For...

One of the favourite pastimes of Canadians is watching American politics. It's the ultimate reality show, and much more entertaining. Shakespeare would have had a field day with American politics, there is so much material for plays, and perhaps the occasional sonnet. "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me." ~~ Wm. Shakespeare, Macbeth. ACT I Scene 3.  The characters in Shakespeare's plays were partly based on real people, but were mostly fictional.  They were full of human faults and foibles, and got themselves into all sorts of scrapes, because sooner or later, their humanity rose to the surface.

American politics is filled with just such characters.  They stroll across the stage, perform their part, and then vanish, stage left ~~ many of them to ignomious fates.  (I predicted John Edwards' downfall while he was still the "It" boy in the Democratic presidential campaign...No one believed me...)  Others just sputter and flame out, while others don't know when to make a graceful exit.  Watching them is just too much fun, and since we Canadians really don't have an investment in American politicians or politics, we can watch them all ~~ Democrats and Republicans ~~ with equal delight.

Michele Bachmann won the Republican Straw Poll in Ames, Iowa yesterday.  She is a founding member of the Tea Party Caucus, and her husband runs an organization for *reparative therapy*.  His motto is "Pray away the gay...".  I am always suspicious of ultra-conservative folks who base their lives on being judgmental of other people.  It will come back to haunt them, and rightfully so.  And this unfortunate photograph will come back to haunt Michele Bachmann, a future candidate for President of the United States.  Yes, there is a God, and She has a sense of humour.

The newest player on the American political stage is Governor Rick Perry of Texas.  He is going to be an interesting candidate to watch.  Oh, yes.  I'm not going to tell you what I predict with this fellow.  I would rather leave it up to your imagination.  Let me just say, I believe Shakespeare would be sharpening his quill as we speak.  This character is too good to be true.

Be careful what you wish for...