What is going on with fund-raising?—obscenity, that’s what. Already candidates are breaking the bank and the presidential election is more than a year away. Hillary goes so far as to support lobbying—don’t bite the hand that feeds you. Candidates obviously are for sale and there are simply too many corners—ethnic, religious, bloggers, pioneers, rangers, hill-raisers, unions, corporations—of power that are ready to buy; candidates might just as well put themselves on E-Bay. Is this not known as compulsive buying?—even though little is known about the product. It is frightening how much the authoritarian mentality has taken hold of the country, losing sight of serious voter decision-making, in favor of either negativity, charisma, religious issues coined as family values, or move-on to the point of “betray us”— “irrational exuberance” is again brought to mind.

So?… One might argue it has always been this way—the net result is always for politicians beholden to those with the most money and influence—it is still a young nation. However, it is not a young democracy: no country in history has had a constitutional republic in play for so many continuous years. It is time for us to grow up—and need it be said, particularly now with a controversial war going on—and accept Bush policy as the product of a rush to judgment? The country should settle down and shove the candidates to the back burner. The order of the day is to end this damnable war and capitalize on the election results of ’06 not only to shake up the administration on the war but the innumerable runaway problems such as illegal immigration, Katrina, border and port security, horrendous wage-gap, public education in jeopardy, paucity of diplomacy, identity-theft, downgrading of armed services, same old ho-hum of energy independence, dismantling the industrial base through outsourcing, and debt.

It is time for the elimination of inane ideologies hacking away at basic rights and frivolous celebrities and cults making a mockery of citizenship.