Politics isn't dull...

There was a time when I found politics boring. It was until I turned 18 at the earliest (which is a bit of a problem when you realise that I studied Government and Politics at A-level — I got grade E).

It wasn’t until I was able to vote that I became even slightly interested.

But even as a child there was one thing about politics that I loved: a TV programme called On the Record. Well, not the programme, just theopening credits.

Now, you have to remember I’m talking about a pre-satellite TV world, when we had 4 channels to choose from, and on Sunday’s you could watch gardening programmes, religious programmes or news programmes; so a giant crocodile rampaging across the UK was one of the highlights of the day.

I’ll be honest though: when the credits were over I turned it off. The crocodile was the only thing I found interesting.

My question is: why is politics boring?  The word just means ‘of the people’. So anything to do with people is really politics. Not just on a world level, but in every house. 

Adults at home get annoyed because you haven’t done your jobs? That’s politics.

You complain that you get too much homework from school? That’s politics.

You get your brother or sister in a headlock because they’re a butthead. Even that’s politics.

It’s not boring, it’s life.  Sometimes what makes it boring is the people representing your views.  Like Rep. Lloyd “Ted” Poe, who is so boring he sends his own grandson to sleep during discussions of domestic violence.

Domestic violence isn’t boring, it’s a horrible situation where people live in fear, where rage and anxiety make a massively unhappy home.  But Ted Poe manages to make it sound irrelevant.  (I encourage you to stop watching the kid flopping about in the background and listen to what Ted actually says, because it’s pretty horrible).  

Then there’s the guy with a voice like a dalek, who’s doing his party no favours by speaking publicly (and the interviewer isn’t much better). What they’re actually talking about is important, because it’s referring to the Irish Prime Minister having no authority — basically because he’s in the seat but isn’t representing the people, and that’s his job!

And people not doing their jobs isn't funny, well, not often.

One final thing to remember -- you can stay out of politicians' lives forever if you're careful, but politicians won't stay out of yours...