Obviously, writers aren't writing these things!

Good morning!


So we're a long weekend away from the mid term elections. Anyone else sick to DEATH of political ads on radio, TV, and those annoying calls on your phone? (We actually went to an all cell phone house...hubby drew the short straw and got the home number for his cell.)

 I love how those who make the laws make it so those laws don't affect them. Case in point, the phone call thing. Here in Wisconsin, we have a "don't call list." EVery six months we have to contact the office in Madison (and why don't they just take our names off the call list permanently? ARe there people out there who say, "Ya know, I've really missed those telemarketer calls.") and then our phone number is removed from calling lists for profit businesses only.

Note, the non profits and the POLITICAL people aren't included. So the ones who are the most guilty of jamming your phone with long, annoying, stupid ads, the politicals, don't have to follow the rules they set up for simple businesses. The carpet cleaning guy can't use your number....but the money grubbing, butt kisssing, complete bastard of a liar running for office gets your number and uses it several times.

But that's not what has me steaming right now. What has me steaming, from a writer's point of view, is the radio ad I just heard. Doesn't matter who it's for, or which party it's for because it's bald faced lies and it's running endlessly here in SE Wisconsin, where the Governor's race is about as nasty as I've seen a race because the two guys know each other, have worked with each other, and HATE each other on a personal level.

The ad set up is a couple driving in a car, obviously in a traffic jam. The woman is complaining about the traffic jam while the man growls that "Governor ______" made Wisconsin like another Illinois with toll roads. That those who can avoid it can zip through, but those who can't have to sit in traffic jams.

Okay, stop: Governors for the last 20 years have said certain roads in SE Wisconsin should be toll roads. INCLUDING THE GUY THIS AD SUPPORTS! Next, the ad this is AGAINST, hasn't been elected and to call him Governor at this point is a lie. Next: I've driven in Illinois. I don't have an I pass, because I don't drive down there often enough, but I've not been stuck in a traffic jam because of a toll road ever. I toss my $1 in the bucket and fly on through.

The ad then talks about how the Governor (Who isn't elected yet) voted to have the gas tax in Wisconsin go up every year without a vote.

1) The governor does vote. He/She vetoes a bill on the desk. 2) The gas tax in WIS ALREADY GOES UP EVERY APRIL WITHOUT MUCH OF A VOTE. IT's AUTOMATIC.

Then the ad whines about how Governor ___________ (again, not elected yet) was flown down to a secret fund raiser in Florida.

Really?

The ad ends with the woman pleading with her man to "tell me next time about these things."

And this is just bad writing. If these are things no one knew was going to happen, how on earth can the man warn the woman the next time?

See, fiction writers have to labor under the idea that things must make sense and ring true. Obviously these "writers" do not have to follow any rules, including a little thing I like to call "Liar liar pants on fire."

To be fair, this ad is not endorsed by any candidate. I have to think, though that the candidate that's going to benefit from this ad is doing a happy dance of joy because a large number of voters are just not informed.

So, my friends, as you go to the polls next Tuesday (and you should because it's our duty as Americans to speak) keep this in mind: You cannot believe a single word you hear on TV or the radio when it comes to the candidates. Do not believe the 24 hour talking heads on TV, they are completely partisan on both sides.

Who to vote for? Get informed! Look at the voting record for incumbents. Don't like it? Vote for the new guy. Look at how your community is doing. Is it better off or worse off? Think about what the candidates are saying! Turn off all the shrieking and think for yourself.

In the meantime, my writer friends, I think we should all try and get jobs writing for political campaigns. Obviously it's an industry that hires fiction writers!