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Do you remember White House counselor Kelleyanne Conway using the term alternative facts to defend the false statement made by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer back in 2017? Spicer had overstated the numbers in attendance at Trump’s inauguration, during an appearance on the news interview show Meet the Press. The phrase caught on and it was used frequently by talking heads on news shows and standups delivering comedic monologues. I found myself using it to refer to just about everything that came out of the mouths of everyone associated with the Trump administration.

It’s midterm campaign season in the United States. For anyone reading this outside of the U.S., we are quickly coming upon the election cycle that occurs mid-way between national elections. National elections are when the president and a few of our members of the U.S. Congress are elected to office.   This is the time when many folks decide that they might not have done the right thing voting for a particular party’s candidate two years ago. Now would be a good time to change the political complexion of things, give that other party a chance for the majority vote.

Political campaign season is that time that I wish I could click my heels and all the television ads, campaign signs and church visits from candidates would magically disappear. This would be a welcomed phenomenon this year. We are being bombarded with presentations of alternative facts  in television campaign ads day and night. I would love to talk about who’s doing the best job of fouling up the airways with these well-crafted presentations of outright lies. I decided a long time ago that someone campaigning for political office, who spends lies and wantonly assassinates the character of their opponent, has no substantive platform for serving anyone.

Remember the old television show Dragnet about a couple of straight-shooting detectives with the Los Angeles police department. One of them, named Joe Friday, was known for using the phrase, “Just the facts, mam/sir” when someone he was interviewing strayed beyond what he needed to know. A political candidate running on the merits of his or her track record or platform should be enough. It’s kind of like vanilla ice cream. No matter how many flavors the food industry comes up with, vanilla is always there, reliable, and trustworthy to taste better in a glass with coke poured over it.

I’m old and blessed…hope you will be too.