Distracting "injuries"

As some of you are aware, I worked for over 7 years as an EMT, both commercially and volunteer, before stepping off the ambulance and on to the tractor. I have been thinking lately about several of the different political attacks and mudslinging ongoing between the two main candidates and their respective supporters.

One of the first, and arguably most important concepts we learn in EMS is the concepts of triage and of "distracting injuries". Basically, when assessing a trauma patient, a provider would first ensure what we refer to as "ABCs" Airway, Breathing, Circulation. The mindset here is that if the airway is not viable, patient can't breathe, or patient is bleeding profusely or otherwise not correctly circulating blood, then the patient dies, so fix those first, if those are bad, nothing else (broken bone, etc) is relevant until ABC issues are dealt with.

After dealing with ABCs, we would then check for possible spinal, neck, or head injuries that would require intervention to protect against further injury. So on so forth, basically prioritizing treatment of possible injuries, first focusing on immediate life threats, and then addressing issues from there as time and available personnel and such allows.

Now, as you sit here reading this, you may be asking "what the heck does this have to do with politics?" Great question. Here's my point. Many of the attacks the two candidates are lobbing at each other are distractions. They aren't addressing actual issues, like foreign policy, tax or fiscal policy, or trade policies. They are things that, while not entirely unimportant, are distractions.  For example, comments Trump made 10 years ago. Vile, terrible, tasteless, horrible, pick your adjective. But, while perhaps an indication of character flaws, it is not relevant to actual policy issues. It allows both of them to avoid actual relevant, policy related discussion that the American people deserve to hear. Another one is Hillary's Emails and the (non)investigation by the FBI. Do not misunderstand me, I am not dismissing nor saying either is unimportant. Because it distracts from real issues.

Think about it, if we are so focused on things like Trump being a dirt bag, or the latest stupid comment he made, or Hillary's pant suits, or email issues, or whatever, then we aren't holding candidates and the media accountable to actually discuss policy and actual events.

I am not saying these things don't matter and should be dismissed, but prioritized as far as our attention.

Trump's sexual comments are, say, a broken ankle. It's bad, it hurts, but, it lets both him and Hillary have something to argue about that isn't, say, foreign policy, arguably a broken neck in comparison.

Now, in the case of patient care, many of these issues are pretty well defined, and on political issues we may each draw different lines as to what we would consider "serious" and "less serious" issues. And again, I'm not dismissing them as unimportant. I'm saying, we as the public need to stand up and demand that we remain focused on policy, both proposed, and where possible, past policies and past positions of relevance.

It certainly is questionable the number of sexual assault accusations suddenly appearing against Trump. The timing, that is. I don't dismiss sexual assault, it's a serious charge. However, we have to ask ourselves, considering the timing, is this a legit thing? Or is it an issue conveniently timed to pull a sleight of hand. And not just by the Clinton campaign. Think about it, I keep mentioning the Trump tapes and sexual assault because it is the latest issue, but this campaign has been an endless display of mudslinging and avoiding any actual real policy debates. The patient (America) has a punctured lung, and Trump and Clinton are arguing over how to handle the broken ankle.

I'd much prefer to hear how they are going to address the growing national debt, various foreign policy issues, tax policy, civil liberties, and constitutional issues. But they don't want to talk about those things, so instead, we'll talk about how Trump is an arrogant person and Hillary is a liar (We knew these things...they aren't breaking news. They are relevant, but they shouldn't be dominant)