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I’ve been in a puppy zone for so long that politics has been on the back burner to a large degree.

Puppies have to eat, you know and be delivered to homes and my time has been canine friendly and politics poor over here at Chez Coma. (Only two left for adoption: Handsome and Dot at the low, low price of free!!)

On to pontificating politics with the disclaimer that this is my opinion and not the opinion of Mabel, the puppies, anyone I know and my sister, Homer:

I spoke to a few politicians recently and I realized a sad fact.

I was asking good questions wanting data from my area on economic development and recruitment of new industry, wanted to know why they were voting the way they were voting on some bills that I thought were complete junk and discuss reorganization because our local folks are adjusting to a new way of doing things here. They also mentioned hiring a Republican to do their website. A quick reminder of the Bill Freeman fiasco to a few members and I think they realized that might not be such a great idea.

I realized after a few moments of talking to my elected dudes that each time I had a conversation, that I was being placated to a large degree. Not on purpose necessarily but pacified nonetheless on issues that I found to be important.

Not as a blogger or a reporter, just in general.

Needless to say, I had to think about that. I try not to be blinded by things and Kool-Aid breaks me out into an unpleasant rash. I mean, politicians placate and it doesn’t matter what side of the political aisle they may be on, it’s something that they just do. Not all of them, but a bunch because elections are always right around the corner in this new day and age of campaigning.

The issue for me comes down to is that I think politicians pacify whomever they are talking to at the moment. I’m guessing we are just going to have to stay two steps ahead of them. Tiresome, but true. I’m not throwing out their talking points if I don’t think they have value. And this year, some of the bills in the Assembly have the smarts of a roll of toilet paper, so what’s wrong with talking to them about it.

Now, politicians have been appeasing us for years. It’s no big secret. And, with politicians wanting more and more to meet “privately” with bloggers is really no different than having lunch with a reporter if it were the old days when we smoked at our desks. I did it once last year but I most likely won’t do it again because it just wasn’t my thing and I’ve talked enough about the Three G’s to last a lifetime. The bottom line is that elected officials should be meeting in public when they want to meet with bloggers or it should at least be part on the record. If a politicians wants to have a beer with me, that’s cool too. I’m not going to talk about their PBR habit as it isn’t pertinent to the big picture.

You have to take into consideration while meeting with these politicians to stay on base with what YOUR objective is. It’s hard to be critical of someone when they are smiling at you, talking about their cat and fielding phone calls from their kids. Yes, politicians are people. Yet, they are people voting on your day-to-day lives.

I honestly don’t like being placated very much and I guess I’ve been around these folks long enough to know when they are trying to slide me off of them like a fur coat on a Tennessee August day.

I want to add to these elected guys that they forget one important thing when talking to bloggers or getting tabloid-like coverage on their antics is that Google-Fu is strong. Do politicians clearly understand that anytime they do something and it’s posted online, that it’s going to show up? Do you want your bills to show up or the fact that Gary Odom’s dog is running for office. (Yes, I ran Mabel for President so I don’t really have a problem with it but I’m going to have to practice what I preach and see what bills he has his John Hancock on this a.m. I’m also not an elected official and my dog is Secretary of Steak because it amuses me.)

I think politicians are learning that the Internet has potential (finally!) and bloggers are a bit dangerous because in many ways we are wild cards. Traditional journalism and blogger pontification are changing in this new landscape of communication and instant social media. I can only give one piece of advice and you can keep it or throw it in the road, but as a blogger, you don’t want to confuse personalities and issues.Not that we do that, but the game is changing.

I like a lot of politicians, but I don’t want the issues I think are important to get muddled either because I like the cut of their suit or that their kids are adorable. If anybody is being fed information, there is a reason WHY they are being given it, and that’s because somebody wants some play on that issue of the moment.

With that said, I’m finding that I’m fighting battles that I wish my elected politicians were fighting. When I bring it up, they basically pat me on my head to a large degree. That, my friends, is dismissive and makes me stabby.

So, some of these people want us to fight but don’t want to give us all the information. All-Righty then.

I don’t know, I guess my point is that it’s better to be a bit of a rebel than get blinded by pretty words.

Deeds mean so much more in the long run.