I love the political season.

Every political year our mailbox overflows with multi-page ads about how such-and-such is a hard working politician working hard to help hardworking folks like you keep working hard. Or something like that. Anyways, these lovely political missives usually include what I will now refer to as the "Blueprint Enlightenment" pose. You know the pose: political candidate squats on the ground of a job site with several hard working guys (all in hard hats and goggles) and goes over the blueprints of something. Of course the guys standing there are in awe of political candidate as he brings something akin to the Ten Commandments to these noble hard-working 'merkins. It's a completely played out scene evoking that political canidate is a natural leader, with a plan for the future, sowing the seeds of progress wherever s/he goes. Well, Dick Devos (The son of Amway co-founder Richard Devos) is running in our state for governor, so the Michigan Republicans sent out an ad for Amway's #1 son. Naturally, it included this played out photo-op, along with the schoolchildren photo-op, the gazing-over-the-grassy-rural-landscape photo-op, and the meeting-with-firemen/police photo-op. If they could have fit in him waving from the back-end of a caboose as it rolls into the sunset, with a fresh apple pie on the window sill, it would have hit just about every political stereotype.

Dear political campaign managers: You're not fooling anyone. We know these turds aren't like this in real life. You may dispense with the vacant promises, and meaningless photo-ops and discuss real issues, please.

Thank you.