More things that make me wonder.

         More things which make me wonder.

Is there a direct linkage in the minds of advertising agencies between the price of an automobile and the linguistic ability of the chosen spokesperson?

        It almost seems as if ad agencies are afraid to tell a auto dealer  that  they should not be doing their own TV commercials. There are numerous examples in this area which demonstrate this point. The Lexus dealer in Orlando has a female spokesperson who is tastefully dressed, wears minimal and tastefully applied makeup and speaks every syllable distinctly, in a conversational tone and without noticeable accent.

        Moving up a notch, a local multi brand dealership which used to feature the owner mangling the word Toyota into a two syllable word  ("Tyo-ta") with rapid fire  enunciation, now uses a blonde with rouge spots reminiscent of  circus makeup, who says all three syllables, but pronounces the word as "tee-oh-ta" as she yells at you.

        At the top of the bad decision scale is a dealer who is the owner and has decided to be the public face of his (Buick)  dealership. he has an unfortunate shape to his mouth which makes it seem as if a stroke had paralyzed some facial muscles, and the gleam of spittle as he speaks is off putting as  he elides syllables as if skiing downhill  avoiding moguls. One is left at times wondering what it was that he just said.

        If, in some distant future, an alien civilization should recover and decode recordings of some of our current TV commercials, they would conclude that, as a species, we were all hard of hearing, especially if the commercial was for Oxy-Clean or some similarly pitched product. Obviously the commercials are effective, as the product continues with the same pitchman, which begs the question why?  Is there a segment of the population which is conditioned to, "loud is better?"  Or is it, "If it's loud it must be true?"  

Another thing that makes me wonder:

        Are Tea Party supporters of middle and lower class economic status really as ignorant  as their choice makes them appear?

        When I see groups of Tea Party supporters there appear to be a fairly significant portion of them of middle or lower middle class means. They are also some of the most vehement, racist and enthusiastically vile in their mannerisms. I find this unusual, since the "leaders" of the Tea party movement, and I mean the behind the scenes money, not the public mouthpieces, have nothing in common, and even less affection for this demographic other than their votes. 

      The Tea party supports reversal  of what small headway has been made in controlling the greed of Wall street pirates. In 2007, many of the Tea Party power base were hurt by the sub-prime mortgage fiasco and subsequent economic collapse which these robber barons precipitated, and yet...?  They excoriate the current administration for economic recovery efforts, while conveniently forgetting who signed the "too big to fail" bailout package.

       In like manner, the Affordable Care Act which overwhelmingly benefits middle and lower middle class persons without insurance and has been proven to work, much to their (Tea Partiers) chagrin, is targeted by them as (in some fantasy world) a Bad Thing which must be dismantled. All the while, it goes unnoticed that Ted Cruz, a prime opponent of the ACA and Tea party idol, opposes it because his wife is a major player in a private health care company.  The rate of health care cost increases is lower, ERs are less slammed, and millions have decent health insurance for the first time, and yet...?

        You have to hand it to the Cruzes, McConnels, the  Koch brothers, the Walton heirs and their ilk - they have convinced millions of Americans that it is an act of patriotism to vote against their own best  interest!