What would happen if ... ?

Several years ago, major league baseball (MLB) seemed to be plagued with individuals that were seeking their moment of fame by running onto the field. Some had a particular protest, others were just looking for a little national exposure. Apparently an arrest and all of the associated inconveniences were not enough to deter such activities as long they enjoyed their fifteen minutes of fame.

When MLB decided that they would no longer put such antics on tv, they slowly came to an end. Cameras no longer record fans on the field or even off field disturbances. As a result, there seems to be many fewer such incidences.

So I was wondering...
What if bad behavior was no longer awarded with media attention?
When you have a person that figures any attention (even bad attention) is better than no attention, you tend to get a lot of bad behavior that keeps them in the news.

So much has been said about the characteristics of Donald Trump and how his actions and attitudes make him unfit to serve as President that I really doubt if more outrageous behavior is going to change anybody'd mind. If you prefer to have him as our President over Sec. Clinton in spite of his comments and attitudes, you are not going to be swayed by continued bad behavior.
Likewise, if you choose to vote for Sec. Clinton in spite of her record of past actions, you will probably not be swayed by further accusations or bad news.

I have to say that I feel a little bad for Indiana Governor, Mike Pence.
I know that I really don't agree with him on many political issues, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy. In fact, he seems like a good family man and a decent citizen servant. Political disagreements aside, he appears to be a person of good character and reputation. I think that he may be sacrificing that reputation for the potential political gains of serving as Donald Trump's VP.

One of my favorite Bible verses to share with kids is 1 Corinthians 15:33 (or one Corinthians if you prefer). Paul quotes a Greek poet/philosopher and says --
Do not be misled. "Bad company corrupts good character."

Yeah, there is always that. We suffer (or enjoy) the consequences of our choices.

Some time back, I remember reading about a survey that intentionally mislabeled policy statements from different political parties and asked people if they agreed or disagreed with the statements. People tended to agree or disagree based on the party assignment more than with the actual policies. Without knowing it, one party often agreed with the other party's policies they thought belonged to their party and vice versa. Party bias is so strong that we tend to believe what our parties tell us to believe. (I couldn't find the survey to reference it here)

Can we somehow manage to remove the party blinders and look at the promises, policies and records of the candidates running for office?
Can we, as Americans, determine the best citizen servants to fill the representative offices of our political system?
Can we choose the best Americans to govern, legislate and judge us -- regardless of their political party?

To be sure -- party affiliations tend to drive their decisions. That's why we associate with a particular party. In truth, perhaps it is time for the emergence of a new third party. If the right fringe continues to dominate the Republicans and the far left continues to drive the Democrats, I wonder if there is a middle ground where reasonable righties can work with reasonable lefties and form a party closer to where I believe most Americans live.

Just wondering...

John <><