Because, doc, everyone's out to get me!

This campaign season has taught me three things:

a) Obama's supporters are a messianic mass of young people, ignorant of history and eager to slander whoever stands in their path toward a nebulous 'change'.

b) Clinton's supporters are of two stripes, both elderly and blind to reality. One sort is old women, bitter and clinging to their cats and genitalia. The other sort are old bluebloods, cynical and clinging to their power and kickbacks.

c) McCain's supporters are ancient and intolerant.  They seek nothing but the nuclear eradication of the Middle East, much of Europe, and godless heathens both foreign and domestic.  (Well, this one might be true. /snark)

Is America truly a land filled with nothing but people with ulterior motives?  When did we get so suspicious of those who disagree with us?

Here's an honest, and dare I say it, accurate summary of each candidates' supporters:

a) They want to improve America.
b) They want to improve America.
c) They want to improve America.

No matter whom we support, our goal is ultimately the same.  We might disagree (often vehemently) over the methods, but last I checked no candidate was running on a platform of destruction or vilification.  To assume or suggest otherwise is intellectually dishonest.

Couching your arguments in hostility and flaming strawmen is self-defeating.  Doing so is choosing to cheerlead instead of fostering discussion; no one's mind will be changed, but I can guarantee some who may have otherwise been open to your point are pushed away.

Can we attack policy without referring to the lack of scruples the Clintonistas show?  Can we dig into a gaffe without mentioning the Obamatons' sense of entitlement or sneering superiority complex?  Can we discuss issues responsibly, forgoing ad hominems?

Can we at least assume our opposition has good, if misguided, intentions?

Quite simply:  Yes.  And we must.

The 'blogosphere' (a grating term, but I have none better) has long since jumped the shark on this campaign season.  It hasn't been about the issues or the candidates for months now.  It's all about who called this supporter that name, and which guy managed to derail that thread with a zinger.  It's about sweeping generalizations, us vs. them, and hate, hate, hate.

It's all irrelevant and petty mental masturbation.

If you've just got to show those jerks on the internet a thing or two, here's a suggestion:  Victory is the best revenge.  Go phonebank.  Go fundraise.  Go wave a campaign sign on a streetcorner wearing nothing but a stars-and-stripes thong.

Shut off the computer and go be a productive ambassador for your candidate.