In the last couple of weeks I’ve been watching Jeopardy! upon my return home from work. In general, it’s been enjoyable, but unfortunately it means I’ve had to watch a lot more commercials than usual. And since the last couple of weeks have been leading up to the general election, it means I’ve had to endure campaign ads up the ying-yang. One commercial break would be dedicated to skewering Dino Rossi, and the next would be skewering Patty Murray, both camps accusing the other of practically the same things. In addition to the personal attacks, there were also the ads for and against the various state initiatives. One initiative in particular really inspired some doozies – number 1098 proposing an excise tax (or income tax, depending on your angle) on larger incomes. Anyway, the point is not really what it was for, it was the substance of the ads “against”. All were saying the same thing – “I don’t trust the legislature” – literally. Think about that. The people don’t trust the very officials whom they voted into office. I think to myself, “so why the —- did you vote them into office?” If we don’t like who’s running, why are we voting for them? And I guess I don’t blame these Doubting Thomases, I have a really hard time finding any politician I feel like is actually doing their job, or even trying. It seems like the “public service” has been taken out of public office these days. The politicians are too busy talking about what they don’t like about everyone else instead of focusing on What Can Be Done To Improve Things. If we really want to shake things up, as citizens, we should invoke a vote of no confidence. Oust the whole Congress. Anyway, we’ll never do that. Instead, we’ll just keep voting for the Lesser of Two Evils, campaigns will continue to be so expensive so as to exclude the normal person who actually wants to do a good and fair job, and everyone will just keep on whining instead of doing anything. And now, I think it’s time for Jeopardy!