But only just a little.
Because there's a little springing forward in the form of pledges and promises of future accomplishment on the part of those who apply for a four year lease on the property at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
But there's a staggering amount of falling back in the form of digging up every little kick, clot or kernel of a candidate's past, if there's any chance that said digging up will help that candidate's opposition put that lease application in jeopardy.
Surely, and obviously, there's nothing wrong with uncovering heinous character flaws or diabolical criminal activity from the history of someone who wants to be named head of operations in the Oval.
After all, we wouldn't want to elect a President who had, say, murdered someone.
Unless, of course, we could actually get Frank Underwood to run. Can't speak for you but I'm good with the trade off cause, man, that guy would get some things done, you know?
And we wouldn't want to choose someone to lead the whole nation if that someone was, say, prone to incite people to violence as opposed to inspiring us all to greatness.
Oh. Yeah. Forgot about that for a second.
Still, there really comes a point where the whole "dredging up" operation not only insults the process, but it insults our intelligence because we all, all of us, know that we are all only human.
And that we all say and do things in our lives that we might do differently if we had the chance.
Or we just do things because we're young and stupid.
Or just young.
Or just stupid.
And sometimes, even often, as we get older, we grow and mature and change our ways, at least to the point where what we did in our younger years shouldn't be used to discredit us in later years.
Actor Ben Affleck was quoted in an interview published in the New York Times that he hadn't spoken out about his failed marriage to Jennifer Garner because he didn't want their personal challenges floating around in what he called the "miasma" of the Internet.
I was not only impressed with the guy's classy presentation, I was totally jiggy with his use of the word "miasma" because, in such large measure, that's exactly what permeates the Internet.
Case in point relating to today's case in point.
An eight year old "investigative report" from ABC News when Hillary was running the last time around has resurfaced online. And while today's classic video posters obviously want to toss some M-80's in the commode of presidential politics, the whole things falls, at least for us'ns around here, into the category of "really?"
Check it out.
Okay.
Now first up, it's important for you to understand that, regardless of what those who know my work, who visit this site, who read my essays or who listen to my radio shows might believe or tell you, I'm neither a Hillary apologist nor a Hillary supporter.
I'm not crazy about her as a candidate and, even given the Huey P. Long alternative named Donald, I'm not going to vote for her come November.
That said.....really?
Thirty years ago, she was a member of the Wal Mart board of directors for six years, made a staggering eighteen grand a year and went around telling the Wal Mart stock holders what the Wal Mart stockholders what they wanted to hear because that's what members of the Wal Mart board of directors do.....
...and that counts as a wannabe knockout punch in the presidential election in the year 2016?
Again....really?
Is that all you got?
Along with "really?", let me offer you another one word expression of my perspective here.
Puh-leeze.
Hey, you with the Anybody But Hillary wife beater on, there.
You're obviously a history buff.
So, let's take a little stroll down memory lane.
Thirty years ago...
...Rob Lowe attended the 88 Democratic Convention and videotaped himself gettin' busy with two girls he picked up in a local bar. Today, Rob Lowe is an accomplished and respected actor with a diverse resume' who enjoys steady work and a positive reputation.....
...Pete Rose was banned for life from baseball and potential entry into the Baseball Hall Of Fame after being accused of betting on games, although the betting was never proven. Today, Rose has admitted that there was some betting and although he's still "technically" banned from Hall of Fame eligibility, only people with brain damage or respect for Kim, Khloe and Kourtney (sorry, six of one) would bet against his seeing that ban lifted any day now....
...Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were both caught with their hands in some cookie's jar and were forced to resign their church leaderships in disgrace, Bakker actually sentenced to 45 years in the pokey (no pun intended)...Today, while less high profile than in the glory days of glamorizing the glory, both Swaggart and Bakker have returned to the airwaves, talkin' the Gosepl and takin' in the greenbacks....
...Ronald Reagan, known then as the Teflon President, saw some flakes go flying out of the pan as a little brouhaha that came to be known as the Iran-Contra Scandal devoured the news cycle like a great white on summer vacation at Amity Island....Today, Ronald Reagan is still dead...but he is the go-to guy when Republicans need to rally the troops and/or get boys and girls to rally round their flag.....
and, just to put a little personal punch in the bowl, here, thirty years ago, I was a functioning alcoholic, drinking upwards of a fifth of bourbon a day, smoking two packs of cigarettes a day and, in my early thirties, on a downward spiraling fast track towards gloom despair and, oh yeah, dropping dead before forty....Today, I am thirty years sober, a non smoker and healthy enough to venture a suggestion that living into my eighties or beyond ain't out of the question......
The point here, kids?
Times, and people, change.
We do things in our lives that we look back on with fond remembrance as well as embarrassed remorse, joyful recollection and generally cringe inducing regret.
And until we stop limiting ourselves to the flawed human being pool for our candidate choices, we need to leave the past where it belongs and zero in on the here and now.
If the whole concept of what I'm preaching here still seems a little fuzzy, let's try it this way.
And this is mostly directed to the guys.
Ever had one of those fights with your wife where no matter what you say, she finds a way to reubt you and stay angry, pointing out what a total failure you are as a husband?
And, just when you think you might have made a strong enough case to finally put an end to the battle, she takes you down with the classic, marital fight knockout punch .....
....and reminds you of that shit you pulled in 1993 that wasn't so hot, either?
There you go.
Let's hold our candidates accountable for what they are, and what they stand for, in the here and now.
Let sleeping dogs, and thirty year old Wal Mart board of directorships, lie.
Lord knows, we've got enough mess in and around Capitol Hill to worry about cleaning up.
Without wasting time and energy on a thirty year old clean up on aisle three.
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