BREAKING THE POLITICAL ADDICTION

My definition of addiction is "an ever increasing desire for something that has an ever decreasing ability to satisfy". With that in mind I want to address a different kind of addiction, the addiction to politics.

Our society deals with all kinds of addictions. From alcohol to drugs, to being consumed with work, leaving no room for family, normally called "workaholics". We all have some sort of addiction. Smoking is our cultures biggest addiction and millions are spent each year to break that addiction. Then we must not forget "food addictions" and the million dollar industry of diet plans and supplements which we have all tried.

But, another addiction is political addiction, or also called the "political junkie syndrome".

Now, there is nothing wrong with having a healthy involvement with politics. But many have become so overly consumed with this that it has led to binging on the negative and living life for the next political story or maneuver.

So how can you tell if you are a "PA" (political addict)? Well, kind of like the old jokes about knowing you're a Redneck, you know your a PA if:

1. Your home page on your computer is set to either the GOP web site or the Democratic web site.
2. You have the Town Council meetings and Board of Education meetings written down on your calendar or in your palm pilot.
3. Your email address has words like, victory2006, rightwing, leftwing, forbush, againstbush, and my favorite, IamrightUarewrong. All of these are real, but I left out the aol.com, or yahoo.com to be nice to those people.
4. Your library is filled with books from Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Al Franken, or Jane Fonda.
5. You subscribe to magazines like either National Review or the ACLU Quarterly. For me I prefer Mad Magazine.
6. You are encouraging your child to name their new baby daughter M. Jodi, while trying to explain your grandson's name, Rowland.
7. Your cell phone has the "listener call in number" to a radio talk show on speed dial.
8. Your T. V. is set to CTN so you can keep up on all that is happening in Hartford.
9. You received junk mail from campaign material companies, offering you the best rates on lawn signs.
10. Last, you know your a PA (Political Addict) if you can't wait to read what I or Mr. Callahan write each week in the Enfield Press. But we are glad you do and I myself enjoy Tom Callahan's articles.

As I look at this list I find that I have been a victim of "PA". When my two year old grand daughter is over I have tried to convince her the "CTN Television" is the Cartoon Television Network and that House Speaker Jim Amann is really Sponge Bob...she never buys it.

On the serious side, we must watch for becoming too consumed with politics. We must be careful about taking ourselves too seriously if we are elected. We have to really fight off the worst attribute of being a "PA" and that is becoming so critical and cynical that we find our personality becoming mean and harsh.

So enjoy politics. Speak up for what you believe. Give your money to the person or party that shares your ideas and values. Most important, get out and vote.

For all you political junkies, remember that politics can be fun to follow and incredibly rewarding. But, if you and I don't watch out we can become so involved in the game of politics we forget to enjoy the game of life.

Greg Stokes