Now I remember why I hate politics

Obama's Team Responds to Clinton Camp Slams

Do my children and grandchildren have to forever look at such people and think, "These are supposed to be my heroes?"

Is this really all that democracy has to offer?

This is the reason I care about policy thought and discussions. The hope and opportunity for something better than the dishonesty and ugliness that has become democratic elections.

This could change. We would have to expect better. We could expect more reasoned, thoughtful, engaged, substantial discussions and disagreements that appreciated diverse viewpoints, ideas, ideologies, and perspectives. We could expect discussions accountable to empirical evidence and that treated the discussion and the thinking like it mattered as much as it does, no matter how much we bullshit ourselves with this ugly process.

We could expect better. If we had the courage. And the courage to expect more of ourselves as much as we expect more of others.

And if we don't, we only have ourselves to blame for this ugly mess that we call democratic politics.

We expect and reward the cynicism, we will get the cynicism. We expect and reward the more honest and decent route, we will get more honesty and decency.

When push comes to shove, it really is as simple as that.

What we are waiting for is us to expect more honesty and decency. From ourselves. And from our politics.

And when we do that, we can stop being so disappointed all the time with what a sorry spectacle we have settled for in the meantime.