She said this in a speech today and it occurred to me that, should we take her at her word, that nullifies her Health Care argument.

Well?

This was brutal, but it ended exactly where (most) everyone knew it would.  It was long, and annoying, and I am so happy to wake up this morning with it behind us.

So good morning, folks.  It's a good day to be an Obama supporter.  The PA danger was averted, and things are right where we left them.  With a lead in delegates, popular vote, and states.

Thank God it's over, though.  I don't know how much more I could take.

Delegates no longer count.

Popular Vote no longer counts.

States no longer count.

Tie then goes to the leader going in.

Congratulation Obama!

Actually, I think the stage got set during the debate.  But this weekend, I was watching the talking heads as I do every Sunday, talking about who is or isn't "bitter," who is or isn't "patriotic," whether Michelle Obama is more like Abigail Adams or Mrs. John Kerry...

I was at the gym on the treadmill, so you can see all of it at once on separate TV's.  But there are other things on too.  Rock of Love, MadTV, Yankee replay, church!, the movie Major League.

And I realized, out of nowhere really, that I didn't want to watch these people talk about this stuff.  More than that, I couldn't.  That it would be wrong.  It suddenly occurred to me that my watching these old farts talk about our country and this important election as if it were a race they had no dog in, it occurred to me that this is exactly what Obama's been imploring me not to do.  It's precisely what this whole "change" is about.  It's about the way I think, and how I behave.  It's about me.

Because these pundits, these programs, they're so stuck in the old-think, the Right v. Left, Tax Cuts v. Big Government bullsh#t that we all know isn't even true or real or valuable, but they're so invested in the state of politics as they see it, that they cannot imagine the world would be different.  To them, I am a demographic, and to them, the nation is a bunch of funny little anecdotes you share at a dinner party.

If McCain wins, and this country stays in this war, and thousands more troops die, will one single person ever come on the air and pull their hair out and yell and say what the hell is going on in this world?  No, of course not.  And worse than that, they will coolly evaluate the nature of the president, of his followers and his detractors, and come to the conclusion that he's either playing with fire, or that he's working a nifty little political game.  How clever he is.  How clever we are.  How well we articulate these insights.

And what a misguided fool I feel like for allowing them so much space within me.  For giving them ratings, and for giving such weight to their bought and sold opinions.

I see now that if this is what politics is (and it may be), or if this is what our country is going to allow itself to be ruled by ("Gore's square, Bush is cool"; "Kerry's uptight, Bush is cool"), then there are better things I could be doing in the meantime, like watch the movie Major League.

Or more importantly, if I were to continue giving to the candidates and causes I believe in, continue trying to influence the opinion of friends, students and family, and one day, teach my children that the whole world might be falling apart, but that that doesn't mean you should too, then I am certain that I will have improved the planet.  And that's more good than (pundit's name here) will ever do.

And so in that instant, I resolved to change.  From now on, when I catch myself arguing with the television, or wondering why Rove is being treated like someone who's opinion matters, or why everyone is having so much damn fun in that studio while Rome is burning, I'm going to simply turn it off, and do anything else.

And while I am going to "hope" that we can "change" the direction of this country, if we cannot, then I have decided that I am no longer going to revel in its demise.