The Mother-in-Law Principle
One the lasting lessons about politics that Pasquin taught me is what we refer to in my family as The Mother-in-Law Principle. It is simply this: when you fall in love and get married you don't do so for your Mother-in-Law, but she comes right along with your spouse, so do her quirks, habits, and anything else that may or may not make your life wonderful or an absolute living hell. Now you may luck out, or you may get straddled with a caricature for the next 40 plus years, it is a crapshoot.
In politics on the other hand, you know who your Mother-in-Law is, you know her quirks, her bad habits, and her good ones. It is the candidate’s party affiliation. It is the strongest and best reason I know of to vote for the party and not for the person. John McCain is a living, breathing example of this; he has gone from a man some of us on the left could respect for his stance on Campaign Finance Reform to a complete tool of the Republican Party in the last five years. His Mother took over. Within both parties you can find people on both end of the liberal/conservative spectrum, but is foolish of us to not realize that Mom is there all the time pushing, pulling and manipulating. Parties are very much like interfering Mom's. Mom's with overwhelming needs, desires and demands and they depend on their children to see that those needs get met. Our representative are beholden to those parties, are part of them and will respond at least on occasion and for us to think otherwise makes us foolish Son's and Daughter's in Law indeed.
In politics on the other hand, you know who your Mother-in-Law is, you know her quirks, her bad habits, and her good ones. It is the candidate’s party affiliation. It is the strongest and best reason I know of to vote for the party and not for the person. John McCain is a living, breathing example of this; he has gone from a man some of us on the left could respect for his stance on Campaign Finance Reform to a complete tool of the Republican Party in the last five years. His Mother took over. Within both parties you can find people on both end of the liberal/conservative spectrum, but is foolish of us to not realize that Mom is there all the time pushing, pulling and manipulating. Parties are very much like interfering Mom's. Mom's with overwhelming needs, desires and demands and they depend on their children to see that those needs get met. Our representative are beholden to those parties, are part of them and will respond at least on occasion and for us to think otherwise makes us foolish Son's and Daughter's in Law indeed.
posted by Rugo at 9:27 AM
<< Home