A guy walked into a bar, sat down and angrily ordered a drink.
After downing it, he turned to a guy at the end of the bar and said, “I hate politicians. Politicians are all assholes.”
The guy at the end of the bar frowned. “I resent that.”
“Why? Are you a politician?”
“No, I’m an asshole.”
I’m not sure there has ever been a time in my lifetime when the national mood has swung so far toward anger and nastiness, when there is so little effort to find common ground or even to accept the humanity of the opposition.
And with hundreds of millions of dollars being thrown into political advertising, the only way to keep your blood pressure down is to keep the television turned off.
As of today, we’re just 10 days from Election Day, but these days all that means is that we’re 10 days from the start of lawsuit season as the right wing files all sorts of frivolous lawsuits claiming their losing candidates really won.
We’re left with a citizenry where even people who don’t follow politics wind up covered with slime.
It really is time to start saying no.
No to people who smear their opponents.
No to people who lie.
No to people who carry water for the worst among us.
I will never vote for a candidate who claims our elections are rigged.
I will never vote for a candidate who makes it difficult for people who try to prevent people from voting.
It really is still possible to save our system.
We just have to start saying no and meaning it.