NOT PC in DC

The other evening my husband and I went to the final performance of Avenue Q which was playing at the National Theater in Washington, DC. I grew up with the Howdy Doody, then came Bert and Ernie, and the Muppets entered our family and so did everything that wasn’t politically correct. This long term Broadway musical won many well-deserved awards. It’s a fun show that takes on every stereotype imaginable while not losing the heart and soul of where people live. Each song and scene drew audience laughter. Which implies that the friendly swipes were understood by those watching and touched their insides. Somewhere in the midst of the audience's warm response, I wondered why our politicians didn’t better understand that not being PC is really the way that most people live.

What if politicians stopped being so politically correct, added a bit of humor and reality to their “shtick”? I don’t know if it would help them win or lose. But it would certainly make them more real, more fun and ultimately, more believable. Maybe Dennis Kucinich knows more about politics than most of us seem to give him credit for? He certainly seems to be having the most fun of all the candidates running. And he appears happy. I’m not out and about raising money for him. But he seems far less foolish to me than he is usually portrayed.

DC can be very proper and uptight. Avenue Q reminds us that underneath all the political rhetoric, real people have real thoughts that aren’t always so really nice.