This is not at first about the issues, though I do take issue with some of them.

This is not at first about the man. He seems a nice enough person in and out of the political realm, generally.

No, John, this is about the circus-shit nature of your campaign and the carnie folk that attend your every event and victory.

I can tell that you are secretly ashamed of every one of them, your awkward accompanying dance through the horde, and in general the whole sordid process of campaigning – discovering new and exciting ways to subtly whore yourself or righting the ship in some aspects, but still hurting from pangs of guilt related to your previous whoring. Onward Christian solider, only motivated by the ghost of some ancient initial momentum, the instructions for which were long ago lost — and so [...]

What a day it could have been. Had the football games had any good teams in them, I might have worn my TV out. Still, the touchy-feely, teeth-baring, love-in format of the back-to-back debates were enough to keep me busy until my attention ran out of steam.

Having not watched network news for some time, I had forgotten about Charlie Gibson, but he is not only a likeable talking-head, he also performed his role as moderator incredibly well. He reminds me very much of Peter Jennings who I admired very much. He runs with an air of extreme credibility that somehow doesn’t stop him from being charmingly crude or inappropriate at times to either break the tension or call BS on a candidate without seeming biased or drawing immediate ire.

On the other hand, his [...]

You will say…”Boy howdy, this guy sure hates politics. I mean, I know it’s an ugly business, but what a depressing outlook.”

And then, three politically driven posts later, “Boy howdy…” – you say that a lot and your friends are tired of it – “…this guy sure writes a lot about politics for someone who hates it so much and has only a casual knowledge of the subject. Surely he could focus instead on the daffodils and the adorable sparrows that flutter above them. They are sure more pleasant.”

So lets end this thing before it begins by killing birds with stones – I will make use of more than one as my aim is off today and some of our feathered friends are not lining [...]

Watching C–SPAN…at 4AM…on MUTE…makes everyone…on stage and in the crowd…look like the worst goddamn criminals. Everyone has either just recently committed the worst crime in some darkened passage of the town hall…committed it years and years ago and now carries that baggage everywhere they go in the form of proud and pained expressions on their faces…or are only now thinking of committing a criminal act because they suspect everyone else in the audience is on the verge of the same murderous or otherwise heinous act. And I’m telling you they are…just look at them! They may never actually get to it…but it is just below the surface.

Of course, it starts off well enough…for a second. The dumb hick local politician stumbles around, learning to use the microphone for the first time…again. With the sound off, I can’t help but [...]