I'm rotating among reading Hillary Clinton's book (Living History). Barack Obama's (Audacity of Hope) and Jim Hightower's If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote they Would have Given Us Candidates. Hightower is the most entertaining. He takes a dim view of the whole political establishment and says so with supporting facts and figures and colorful anecdotes. Hillary and Barack are so earnest that it's almost painful. Not that I'm against Earnestness.

I know that I'm not the only one who is already sick of the whole thing. And not the only one who feels pessimistic about the fate of our nation. I may need to switch to something sweet and light to escape becoming a curmudgeon. Does earnest consideration of the candidates really improve one?