If I am not mistaken, this is the first time you have shared so much of your views of the political landscape on your blog. Beneath all the Buttsex, poppers, and gay cultural references, lie a thoughtful and intelligent young man (37)! :)

I personally view politics as a sport with every candidate on a team. I root for my team as rabidly as I would for an SEC football team. When a campaign employs tactics that increase their poll lead, I look at that as scoring a touchdown.

No, Brett, he's made similar appeals to rationality within the supposedly reality-based community before on other sites, if I remember (correct me if I'm wrong, of course). Again, he deserves a kiss for it.

He's making the point that I feel, too. When prominent and (now) influential bloggers use tactics that feed the beast in the worst way possible (ie, lying about the person they don't like) it makes me not trust them about pretty much everything else.

I mean if they backed off and truly apologized for some of their excesses - the one that go beyond "rah-rah for my guy!", it would help a lot. But they don't ever do that, if you notice. Which makes them precisely like the people they used to hate: doing the wrong thing and never EVER admitting it.

"He's making the point that I feel, too. When prominent and (now) influential bloggers use tactics that feed the beast in the worst way possible (ie, lying about the person they don't like) it makes me not trust them about pretty much everything else."

OMG! Seriously, I thought I was the only one to notice. Thanks atari, you made my day!

To vilify one person over the other, only serves to divide the party. Though I support Hillary, let me proclaim here, should she not receive the nomination, I will support Obama 100%. I do not have any ill feelings toward him. For those that are proclaiming their disgust with one of the two candidates and labeling them as the anti-Christ, a divided party is headed to defeat. The Republicans have been having a grand old time with defamatory whispering campaigns toward Hillary and Obama while the two Democratic camps point fingers at one another. The press is salivating over the prospects of disillusionment and character assassination and the Republicans are counting on the politics of division to garner a razor slim majority in the general election. To Hillary’s supporters, Obama is not the enemy. To Obama’s supporters, Hillary is not the enemy - our greatest threat is four more years of the Bush/Republicans disastrous polices.

Amen Brother TJ and Brother Rob! (Cute boys with political views I can get behind...so to speak...YUM)

It's interesting that this is the first election where political bloggers (except maybe Sully who was around last time...bareback anyone?) have been in the mix in any kind of profound way that has helped shape the campaigns. In my opinion the effect upon the race has been largely negative. It has given arm chair pundits a soap box without the benefit of fact checking, proper sources, etc. Hey It's almost like thousands of little FOX News outlets!

One need only read Sully's (muscle glutes anyone?) daily screed agains "the Clintons" to see how this medium has changed the dynamics of the race (he gets like a jillion reads a day or something.)

Enough is enough...we have two great candidates...we need to get behind whoever gets the nomination or we will have four more years under another neo-fascist regime to see the error of our ways and lick our wounds.

Like my mom says: "Simmer down!"

A political post? From you? For rlz??

Wow, what a great post. I've been reading a lot of posts about the nomination/election, but seldom find one that is to the point with no BS. Someone's not just a pretty face. :D

I'm so tired of the endless campaign, and November is still a long way off. Just think how early people we be jumping into the 2012 race. Ugh. It gets worse each every election cycle.

Honest to God, I have election fatigue.

"Actions speak louder than words" my granma always said: I'm watching how all three of these candidates navigate the treacherous waters of campaigning in this digital age. Who's rising above the fray and keeping on course? That's telling me more about how they'll act as a president. I'm also limiting my input to the written word. I am waaay too easily swayed by sound bites and my rational mind needs to be utterly clear for this one.

Thanks for being brave and going off the humor track a little bit to talk about this (not that I don't LOVE the humor track, because I do!). I have my favorite, but pretty much agree with Rob's take about that. I know if I could see you guys I'd get a lot of eye rolling, but I think one issue trumps them all, and that is Environment/Climate Change. As most people have heard and believe to varying degrees (Bush admin definitely notwithstanding), we are on a track certain self-destruction with the way things are set up right now. Anybody who hasn’t realized some changes already is just not paying attention (e.g. the D.C. cherry trees blooming three weeks earlier than they used thirty years ago. I can vouch for this because they used to bloom around April 5, like clockwork every year when I was a kid). But I take my lead from the scientific community, not from people off the street who claim to know more than the trained scientists do. The scientists believe this problem is accelerating, and could be on us in a devestating way a lot sooner than we think (like within the next thirty, not one hundred, years). I don't want to have to deal with this shit any more than the Bush Admin does. It's just that I'm not stupid enough to think that ignoring it will make it go away. I'm for whomever will deal most effectively with this issue, even over healthcare, gay rights or any other issue. McCain's not as bad as most Repubs as he at least gives credence to the reality of Global Warming, but of the three I think he is the weakest hope for changing our energy infrastructure as rapidly as we need to, if for no other reason than he is in the Republican camp. To my thinking, Hillary or Obama are realy the two only viable choices, and I don't believe either one necesarily has it in the bag should they win the nomination.

I know that majority of the political comments on "Gay" blogs are often very liberal in nature. I also know that Gay rights are a good thing. But I have to ask why anyone would so blindy throw themselves behind a candidate simply because of their Supposed stance on homosexuality. Nobody seems to be aware that Obama has gone on record numerous times about his disagreement with homosexuality. No one seems to care that despite all her claims of "supporting gay rights" we have yet to see Clinton push for legislation to legitimize Gay Unions or Homosexual adoption rights. I know that most gay men like to vote liberally, and I'm not saying thats wrong. I just ask that each and every person voting in this election ask themselves, "What has this person done to better my life, and what are they going to do to better the country?" Remember that you're not just voting to better your life. Your also voting to better the lives of your family, friends, and future generations.

Oh fine, YOU get all the kudos. How frustrating. :P

What did I get when I vented along this line? A lot of "what are you so worked up over?"

(Why no, I'm never bitter, why do you ask?)

Seriously, though, my last political attempt was back in late Feb and early March, after which I backed far away from the insanity and regained some mental health as a reward.

I figure back then, not so many people were aware of what was going on.

I imagine, by now, a lot more people have noticed just how bad it is.

Anyways, you wrote it better than my capabilities were back then.

I like the Wizard Of Oz...