This afternoon I sent Mum an SMS:
Wow. First Brexit and now Trump! Sorry for the swearing that’s about to follow but what the fuck is wrong with people these days?!?!?! I look forward to having a good rant to you and Dad tomorrow night. Love Foz.
Mum replied and said Dad thought about ‘Don Maclean – American Pie’ after Trump took and held the secured the lead for President. My Dad probably only thinks about music once a year max, unlike myself, so Dad thinking about music in a time like this is huge! (Although Dad thought Cat Stevens wrote American Pie…but then again Dad thinks any man with an acoustic guitar around that time is Cat Stevens!)
My father constantly thinks about politics! He reads the Sydney Morning Herald from cover to cover on paper. He also reads it online on his tablet too, which my sister, Mum and I think is kinda hilarious as he used to hate technology so much! He often writes ‘Letters to the Editor’ in both the local and Aussie papers and he’s been published many times. Dad loves watching Bloomberg and ABC 24 even though it can drive my Mum nuts! Luckily, Mum has learnt to read one of her books or garden when she gets annoyed at Dad and his political obsessions!
Dad’s character might be described by “modern day peeps” as a ‘social justice warrior’. He’s doing his best to fight for the environment and peoples welfare. I think it’s fucking admirable even though I know it weighs on his mind all the time. He’s had lots of wins “for the people” over the years but I won’t go into those now!
Dad’s joked for years about having a ‘CS Party’ in Aussie politics. The ‘CS’ stands for ‘Common Sense’. It’s a simple concept, just use common sense and humanitarian values when you’re drafting up a new policy or bill. It’s definitely an easy concept on paper but most pollies have to market themselves, talk themselves up and make promises out the wazoo to get into power…so they are going to have shifted values from the get-go.
The theoretical ‘CS’ party isn’t going to get into power because if you were to have a potential politician who said something like “I’m going to try and change problem X but I’m not sure if I can in one term” then they’d get no votes even though they are being honest. As a pollie you have to lie and say “I will FIX ALL THE THINGS” or “Make America Great Again” to “inspire” the general public.
Putting all that aside, seeing Dad thought about music, I’m going to send Dad and Mum a link to this song by Paul Simon that one of my workmates shared that is much more positive than American Pie song that Dad thought about!
