From here until the end of this election cycle, I'm not discussing politics here. Were I to indulge in allowing my true feeling to come out for the ridiculous nature of what's happening to this county, I'd offend almost every single person who read this blog.

I will, however, say this:

I never really believed (I suspected, but I dared to hope it wasn't true) that having an IQ above one hundred disqualified someone from being President. I never really believed I'd see half the Democratic party turn into Karl Rove. I never really believed I'd see a major Democratic contender for President stand up in front of a crowd and paint themselves as a, "Second Amendment believin' Gun-Lovin', God-fearin' good old boy (girl)," in order to try and somehow convince a bunch of party insiders that they're the only person electable.

If some people were offended by the truth that one candidate had the guts to say, then well, I guess I'm equally offended that the other seems to believe that we should play up to the least-common denominator in this country to get elected. Maybe it's true after all. Maybe you do have to speak to Americans as if they're pathetic morons in order to get elected.

If so, then I guess what they say is true: We get the President we deserve.

I just never thought I'd see the ideals of the Democratic party flushed down the toilet for the sake of getting elected. I never thought I'd see gun-control abandoned. I never thought I'd see the separation of church and state put in such a tenuous position by my own party.

I'll vote for whoever wins the Democratic primary. To do otherwise would be to vote for killing more American soldiers, and that's blood I don't want on my hands. But should I vote for the panderer, I'll probably go home and throw up immediately after. Because I'll have learned that here in America, if you want a President who isn't a war monger, or who supports a woman's right to choose what they do with their own body, or who supports the rights of two people in love to consecrate their relationship, regardless of sexual orientation, you've got to accept someone who will say and play whatever game they can to get elected. In America, you can't have a true visionary lead this county, and instead you have to accept that this gleaming example of what could be, never will be. In this country, if you say, "I have a dream," we kill you. Either with a bullet, or with back-room deals and mischaracterization. We kill you with racism, or gender bias, or with plain lies. We kill you by using your middle name over and over and over, because most Americans are too stupid to realize that having the name Hussein does not make you party to terrorism. We kill you by holding you responsible for the statements of others.


And that, my friends, does nothing but make me weep. Because I want to believe. I want to care. I want this country to become the beacon of civilization I KNOW it can become.

If that makes me an elitist, so be it. But is it too much to ask that we at least try? Even if we lose, can't we at least try to be what we could be? Is it too much to ask that instead of dumbing down America, we build her intellect up? I know I'm asking the impossible here. I'm asking Americans to do some work, same as one of the candidates for President is doing.

And I'll probably be attacked as well for it. Because Americans only want one thing: They want everyone else to do the work required to fix the country. Americans want others to fix their problems, because to do work themselves would require they look first in the mirror with an honest heart.

And that ain't gonna happen, is it?

Further, deponent sayeth naught.

Joseph Haines, signing off from The Edge of the Abyss.