Bang, you're dead. No I'm not, you missed. Did not. Did so. Did...

     Watching political debates, or even the attack ads on television during this interminable political season, I am reminded of the games we played as children.
      "Bang, you're dead!" said the cowboy. "No I'm not. You missed me," replied the Indian.  "I shot you, so fall down," screams the soldier. "I ducked!"
     And so on, and so on.
     Somehow, we remained friends. No one ever won the war, and even if one did, finally, concede that they were vanquished by an imaginary barrage of lead, we returned to the ramparts, resurrected, the following day.
     So O'Malley coolly destroys Ehrlich with reason in a debate, but the insouciant Ehrlich rallies with a scowl and an irreverent, "Oh, c'mon, Guv, you're not sellin' that to voters."
     It's part of the game. Like kids on the playground, political players can say anything, tell outrageous lies about their own accomplishments, slander their opponents and it's all good, because, as I have heard all too often, "Hey, if you want to win in politics, you have to play the game."
     I have to remember that adults did not bother to watch as we slaughtered each other in childhood games of war. Maybe as adults we should not watch the slander ads on TV. Hit the mute button, or just fast forward to real life, which will go on no matter who wins the political brawl.