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Yes, it was humor. I don't want you to give yourself a heart attack over politics. Believe me, it's not worth it. In two years or less there will be new issues, new actors, new crises, new headlines. Tying yourself up into a pretzel over today's nonsense is not good for your soul. Try taking a longer view.
I cant' believe you say you can't remember anything as bad as today. Surely you can remember Nixon? That was much worse than anything that even you think is going on now. Fercrissakes, back then the President was involved in a criminal conspiracy to obstruct justice!!! Step back a second and think.
My general feeling is that people need to get a grip and remember that what goes around comes around. The state of political discourse has degenerated so badly that I think we are going to be disabling the federal government from ever getting anything done. A good libertarian like me should think that's not such a bad outcome, but this isn't the way to do things. We still need good public servants, and the way things are now, I can't see any good quality person wanting to go under the microscope. Not every disagreement is the apocalypse, and not every person on the other side from you should be investigated as a potential criminal.
Whom do I admire? Lots of people, on both sides of the aisle. My first requirement is honesty: I'm okay with disagreement but I detest intellectual or other dishonesty. After that is ability - can the person get things done? After all, you can be the world's smartest person and still be unable to screw in a lightbulb. Part of ability is decency, interpersonal relations - after all, part of getting things done involves motivating and convincing other people.
Host, a bit of perspective please. Being on the other side of the political divide from you doesn't make someone a criminal. If you recall, there was a string of investigations of people in the Clinton admin, too, and I'm sure you were just as outraged about the persecution of Ron Brown and Henry Cisneros as the Repubs are now about Scooter Libby. Believe me, there's plenty of this stuff everywhere. As I said, what goes around comes around.
Now if I was intent on being a shit disturber I'd say that if the federal government wasn't involved in so many things there would be much less opportunities for corruption, but maybe I better not open that can of worms.
I have kept myself on an even keel by reminding myself that we live in a fundamentally good and strong country and that we will likely muddle through even if the people I don't support are in charge for a while. The US survived Millard Fillmore, it survived Warren Harding, it survived Jimmy Carter, and it will certainly survive whoever you're complaining about at any given time. In my entire lifetime there was only one election (and it wasn't a federal election) where I honestly thought that if the guy I was supporting didn't win there would be a general disaster. Other that that one time, though, I am usually perfectly content to let whoever my fellow citizens chose to do the best s/he could do in the job s/he was elected to do - whether or not the winner is who I voted for. They should be watched and held accountable for results, certainly - but they also should be allowed to do their jobs. It's the American way. And it's much better for your blood pressure.
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