For the record, I hate politics.

Seriously. So much of it is lies and posturing to bolster already over-inflated egos and self-importance in the name of "the greater good" or whatever. Let's just be honest. I can't tell you how sick to death I am of the terms "hope" and "change," used in either direction, or "reform" as policy. "Transparancy" and "accountability" need to mean exactly that.

I honestly didn't used to care about this stuff one way or the other. It's my husband's fault, really. Before I met him I was skipping along in my happy little uninformed existence, not paying any attention to the news or what was going on in the world. I felt it didn't really affect me and that I had very little control over any of it anyway. I got to where (and now it makes me cringe to think it) I didn't even want to hear about what was going on in the world. It was scary or depressing or too far away to matter. I didn't pay attention. I didn't care.

My husband cared deeply. He loves history, pays attention to current events, listens to talk radio - which after years of enduring it in the car with my dad, I'd grown accustomed to tuning out.

Then one day the whole world changed. On September 11, 2001, I was working in a medical office doing filing and data entry work. I don't remember how it came to my attention that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, but the television was on in the break room and a few of my coworkers had gathered to watch what was going on on the screen. I stopped and watched for a couple minutes, read the ticker at the bottom of the screen, listened to what the reporters were saying... and then watched as the second plane flew into the other tower. At that point it was clear that it was no accident. I immediately got on the phone to call Paul. We'd been dating about a year and a half and I knew he was probably still asleep, but would want to know what was going on. I called several times before he finally woke to the phone ringing. He turned on the television and shortly thereafter, the Pentagon was hit, all planes were being grounded and flight 93 was in trouble over Pennsylvania. That day, I started paying attention.

WHAT exactly do you want to change? WHAT do you feel needs reform? Because it looks to me like the change some seek is in the founding document on which all our laws are based, and the reform is in the structure of our nation itself, its government and its political system. Now don't get me wrong. Our system is by no means perfect. I am not suggesting that there are not improvements to be made, but more government is not now, has never been, and never will be the answer to the issues we face.