LONG AGO

This is often the beginning of a good story. It is a great way to tying the present to the past and suggest that the way things were at one time has an impact on the way they are now.

Okay I’m digressing and taking this whole long ago bit to an extreme. But in a way that is my point I suppose. We can be such suckers for things like the good old days scenarios and happy endings. And they really do go together in a way if you think about it.

True for some people long ago was truly great. Maybe it was even better than the present. However there are some for whom the past plain sucked. And long ago is for them a great way of saying how much distance there is for them between the nightmares and the present.

Now if fairness I also appreciate there are some for whom the past was just a time to get through, it was neither good nor bad. You have to make allowances for that possibility also.

The one thing all three views have in common is that they are totally based upon our recollections, which we color as we desire. Just like we do when facing the future.

Is any of that good or bad? Well to me no. In fact as a politician I depend upon it. For the people who the past was a good long ago, I want to promise to restore it. If the person thought of it as bad, then I want to promise to keep it distant. And for the people in between I want to promise to keep things the same or as good.

This all has one specific goal in my case, to tell people what they want to hear. You can forget telling them the truth though, that never works in my view.

Oh I imagine there are some who will take the high moral ground and claim the truth is the only real option you should take. These I feel are of the same mindset as the people who will play some game with more priority to the rules that winning. They love to camp out on that old saying about it isn’t whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.

Well they are entitled to their opinion, but I for one (and I doubt I’m alone here) think winning is far more important. At least from what I’ve seen it is the name of the winner in a contest that gets remember more often than those who did the best job at keep the rules. Enough said on that view?

In any case as I was pointing out, in terms of life and politics, fantasy and hope are more critical than the monotony of broken or unfulfilled dreams. Life can deal us all those moments of disappointment and who really needs to remember them? That is why I’ll always bring up the long ago that is painted with nostalgia and can be used to point to a “happily ever after” promise for the future. At least that’s my excuse for spending more time peddling lies that make one feel good than the truth, which tastes lousy. Hmmm, that reminds me I got a speech coming up. Time for another “manure” pie!