Thank you Senator Obama. Thank you for announcing today that you are committed to doing what it takes to put yourself, your family and all of your friends through what is undoubtedly going to be a long and rough road to ensure in the end 'we the people' may all have a voice in making this country the best it can possibly be. And really, a thank you on a personal level for reminding me yet again of the 'smallness' of politics and political discourse in today's America. I was all prepared to write my first official, non-introduction blog tonight as an attack on the 'right'. I was formulating in my head the ways I would attack Fox News and all of the right-wing 'pundits' as being incredibly unfair, untrue and most of all hypocritical in their 'coverage' and 'analysis' of current events as they relate to the Democratic Party (coverage that in my opinion differs greatly than when dealing with the Republican Party). I was all set to fall right in line with the script followed daily by people of my similar left-leaning persuasion and 'sling mud' right back at the 'mud-slingers'. But really, would I have felt any better in the end for having done that? Would anything be accomplished and would you, the reader, get anything out of that beyond just more scripted lines to rebut the people's from the right scripted lines?

The smallness of politics today has basically trapped us all in a never ending, and downward spiraling partisan shouting match on BOTH sides. We all seem more concerned about 'getting' someone from the other side. We love nothing more than a scandal, a misstep, a snafu from someone big on the other side that we can use as a 'zinger' to score some political points somehow for our side. We too often view politics as a game to be won or lost, like our side is our favorite sports team. And like in sports, we can see no wrong in the hard foul that our guy just committed (that's just good strong play!), but lose our minds when the same foul is committed by the guy on the other team (he should be ejected from the game!). Notice in all of this critisism, I am saying 'we' and 'us' because I believe those of us on the 'left' are just as guilty as those people on the 'right'. While (again, in my opinion) the vitriol coming from those on the right is more well funded and organized, as well as being more inflammatory and low-ball, that is no excuse to continue the 'banter' in that manner by anyone on the left.

So what do we do? How do we break out of this game we are currently all playing? Well, I could list a whole set of idealistic things we could set out to do like 'hold the media accountable' for their ever increasing role in all of this or 'turn the other cheek' and 'kill our enemy with kindness'. Is it realistic to think that could happen? Probably not. Maybe the best thing to do is to ensure that we just make a conscious effort to not follow the script and play this same old game when we are drawn into a discussion about politics. Regardless of what the media says or does (let's face it, they are really just in the business of selling ads and nothing sells better than 'in-your-face' conflict) we can learn to follow a different script. We can educate ourselves on the real issues that should be important to all of us, and discuss those on their individual merits. We can learn this way to hold our elected officials of either party accountable for the ways in which they have *actually* voted, or have *actually* spent their time and efforts. Have they held true to their campain promises? Have they spent too much time with lobbyists? Are they thinking of new and innovative ways to make the lives of their constituants better? Are not these things more important than their middle names or their past indiscretions?

I know a changes to this sort of banter will require a little more work. It is much easier to sit in front of the TV or listen to the talk radio or read the opinion pages of your local newspaper and be 'educated' on the evils of the other side, than it would be to search out the truth for yourself. It is much easier to respond to someone's angry and ugly comments with more anger and ugliness of your own rather than respond with patience, calmness and facts. And it is much easier to accept all of this 'smallness' as just being the way politics are, have been, and always will be. It is easy to turn away and say it doesn't matter or it can't be changed. But I believe, as Obama reminded me to believe this morning, that we can change it, that we must change it. We must strive for a better life for ourselves and our fellow Americans. We must strive for a better future for our children. And we MUST strive for a better government than the one we have now.

I know it doesn't seem like much, but if we each try and clean up our acts on a personal level and start treating each other with some respect, it could work its way to our neighbors, to our media and most importantly, to our government. It is at least worth a shot. Right?

Thanks for reading....