AN ARTIST'S PAIN

Without Love....

My body turns to stone
As this stone slowly crumbles,
The small jagged pieces begin to swirl
Whipped furiously by dusty, fetid desert winds
Forming treacherous columns of frenzied fragments
Randomly twisting in this blistering heat so far from home

Without Love...
My heart turns to stone
As this stone implacably wears me down
Dark feelings of isolation begin bubbling to the surface
While cold desolation arises to conquer all romantic sentiment
Ripping and tearing at my skin where gentle touches once lingered
Leaving huge gaping holes, thus twisting soft lips into a narrow frown

Without Love...
My mind turns to stone
As this stone steadily obliterates my sanity
Echoing screams begin to noisily reverberate within my brain
Morphing into hallucinatory waves awash throuhout a stark and sterile room
Transforming what were once beloved memories into anguished contemplations
Of being left alone to feel the heavy crush of artistic inspiration now dictated by pain

TRANSCENDENCE

A brilliant and bubbling red energy flow
Cooled by the translucent blue rivers of ice
Captures the perpetual motion and glow
Of mankind's infinite life transformations

Morning coaxes the streaming light
Marking the passing of another day
Minutes leak slowly into the night
Merging into endless time and space

Back to reality and the lessons of giving
Created from interwoven centuries of wisdom
Before man exhausts his purpose for living
Contemplating the cosmic significance of life

Our true existence begins at the very moment of death
When the soul unlocks the secrets of our ethereal spirituality
Awakening the universal knowledge of being, transcending death
Whispering the definitive answer, as we reunite into One

Political Satire: The Last Bastion of Unfiltered News

(Commentary: I recently reread this article that I wrote prior to the 2008 elections. Sadly, I'm not surprised that the worse of my predictions not only materialized but created an environment ripe for our latest political folly: The Tea Party!
Bush's oil drilling bill directly lead to the BP-Gulf coast disaster, his financial policies largely contributed to a global economic meltdown and the U.S. deficit now teeters on the edge of a severe depression. Bush's war in Iraq ensured that our military was stretched too thin to adequately fight the resurgence of terrorism over the past 8 years in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and in the Sudan, among other countries. And the health care fiasco? Our current President, Barak Obama, was handed a government that was so broken that I no longer believe it can resuscitated to its former glory...How sad and frightening!

Political Satire: The Last Bastion of Unfiltered News?

Watching the news lately has become such a surreal experience, I've decided to come out of the closet and openly admit to preferring the brilliant political satire played out on programs such as "The Daily Show" rather than listening to the dreary scripted sound bites that pass as unbiased reporting nowadays!
And, who can blame me? Over these past years, the Bush administration's cowboy politics have resulted in such frightening economic and social realities that it seems only the witty humour of comics like John Stewart and Lewis Black can make the "news" palatable. Like a recurring Kafkaesque nightmare, I have witnessed with growing incredulity as the Bush-Cheney-Rove troika has succeeded in not only dismantling our most basic individual rights, but has also somehow managed to convince voters that violating international laws,(such as the Geneva convention), would have negligible global consequences. To add insult to injury, this republican administration promoted a political climate based upon fear mongering and righteous indignation painting anyone opposed to its narrow minded, imperialist agenda as unpatriotic and amoral.
The Bush administration has spent the past seven years underfunding government programs aimed at benefiting health, education, job training and the environment. These policies have resulted in the evisceration of a national safety net for the middle class, and the millions of other Americans affected by fluctuating credit rates, natural disasters, shrinking job opportunities and the ruinous cost of health care. Obviously, our founding father's notion of separating church and state seems to have lost its appeal and I, for one, find this most alarming. The United States appears to be the only "first world" democracy where religion and social mores play such a deciding factor in the election of our representatives. I mean doesn't anyone else think that there is an insurmountable conflict of interest between religious dogma and the responsible management of government affairs?
To date, President Bush and his poesy have not only succeeded in passing laws which, for all intent and purpose, have served to benefit the uber-wealthy and curtail individual rights, but they have also single handily managed to tarnish America's global image from a once respected international voice of reason into one of the most distrusted countries worldwide. Yet, every time this government does something to diminish our international standing, or fails to provide support for it's ordinary citizens at home, I have to remind myself that our current administration was not only elected, but also re-elected by the people. And therein lays the rub. I will never understand why Americans feel comfortable endorsing a party that openly promotes a social and political agenda based upon out-dated religious convictions, (which are grossly simplified at best), rather than voting for the most qualified candidates.
For example, Ronald Reagan was elected president thanks, in large part, to his strategic pandering of a then growing political force self-described as the "religious majority". After taking office, Reagan's republican administration lost little time in promoting many of the core issues that eventually would become known as the "right wing" agenda. Stripped down to its bare essentials, the ultimate goal of this small but powerful cabal was to impose their Bible inspired mores upon a somewhat unsuspecting public. Adding insult to injury, members of this political right wing declared that their moral crusade was ordained by no less than God himself. Anyone who disagreed with their agenda was deemed corrupt, wicked and a threat to the "american way of life".
Reality dictates that anytime the powers that be impose a narrow definition of morality upon the rest of us "common folk", the inevitable outcome is the elevation of hypocrisy to an art form. Predictably, over the past 25 years, there has been an endless parade of infamous scandals attached to a number of politicians who, as it turns out, are the very same people responsible for trying to defame the reputation of their colleagues who do not tow the party line. The potential for hypocrisy and corruption is so obvious that I have a hard time understanding why the endless lies propagated by our government officials continues to shock and disappoint the American public. Haven't we learned our political lessons by now?
On the up side, the endless scandals stemming from greed, lies and power mongering have provided plenty of fuel for comics, satirists and other observers of the human condition. As intelligent parody often points out, it seems that the people in power are rich and influential enough to succeed time and time again at distracting voters from serious foreign policy and domestic issues by drawing attention to irrelevant "moral" controversies. Some examples that come to mind are the McCarthy trials in the 1950s or President Clinton's sex scandal in the 1990s which basically wasted so much of the voters time and money that those hearings should be considered criminal acts against the American public. Instead of focusing on serious global issues such as nuclear armament, climate change, species extinctions, famine, disease, war and human slavery to name a few, it would seem that our politicians prefer wasting time squabbling over gay rights, the ERA amendment for women, developing stem cell research and new anti-abortion laws, as well as other scientific and social mores that have much more to do with individual rights rather than government policy.
Additionally, the basic premise that democracy should be promoted world wide through a series of well thought out diplomatic strategies by the U.S. and her allies seems to have disappeared under Bush's reign. In its place, our international policies have taken on a myopic and bullying tone dripping with disdain for any factions refusing to comply with the dictates laid out by our governing majority of republicans in government.
Nowhere is the Bush administration's autocratic legacy more evident however, than in the post 9/11 dismantling of our constitutional rights to privacy and freedom of speech. By declaring war on terrorism, this administration has given itself "carte blanche" to silence any vocal dissenters of current white house policies if it so chooses.
Let us not forget to give credit where credit is due which, in this case, goes to Vice-President Cheney for embodying the actual power behind the throne. Indeed, we have Dick Cheney and Karl Rove to thank for their thorough job in alienating our foreign allies, as well as ignoring the need for the Federal government to put into effect economic policies that would curb irresponsible banking and corporate business practices. Our burgeoning deficit has immeasurably weakened our economy and Bush's minions have made sure that government oversight of Wall Street's financial shell games has been gutted from the inside out.
The most alarming recent event however, which indeed shed some light on republican insights happened while I was watching an interview on T.V. during which Cheney was asked what he thought of the growing problems from environmental disasters (remember Katrina?). To this day, I'll never forget his answer which was, .."So what?." For my money, that statement should go down in history, along side Marie Antoinette's alleged callous quip,"Let them eat cake"..., when she was informed that her French subjects were dying of starvation.
In all fairness, the Democratic party's inability to reach a cohesive consensus aggravated by their own pursuit of "pork barrel"interests has provided little relief from President Bush's veto power, that he has used time and time again, to kill any bills intended on taxing the rich which could provide some relief for the average, middle class American tax payers.
Sadly, we are now reaping the deadly repercussions from past and present republican administrations hell bent on promoting intransigent unilateral foreign policies. Rather than helping resolve the Palestinian and Israeli conflict like the Clinton administration, or focusing on superior counter intelligence to enable the deployment of multiple covert strikes against specific targets in Afghanistan, Pakistan and now, Iraq, the U.S. is hopelessly entangled in a civil war of its own making which has no end in sight. On the domestic front, the current government's lack of funding for health care and it's complete disregard for environmental disasters, as well as its continued disinterest in supporting educational opportunities for a shrinking unionized labor force has directly contributed to renewed discrimination against the poor. Never mind the immigration fiasco!
The Republicans, then and now, have consistently failed to address an aging American infra structure and have severely added to the health care crisis (remember Walter Reed hospital?) by muddying the waters with irrelevant arguments over sexual issues and "death panels" instead of approving funding for life altering scientific breakthroughs for stem cell and cancer research. As a matter of fact, I predict that the deplorable policies of this decade will corrupt health care and pre-college education beyond repair!
We do have one thing we can be proud of though which is that we have now surpassed the Soviet Union in the number of citizens we incarcerate yearly! All this does not make a very auspicious beginning for America's role as the only super power at the dawn of this 21st century. I can't help but notice that the hawkish foreign policy directives established during Reagan's presidency, and reprised by the Bush administration, seem to eerily mimic the paranoid, anti-communist mindset that dominated politics during the McCarthy years. And let us not forget the futility of the Vietnam war and its irreparable damage to a whole generation we call the "Boomers" just before my coming of age.
Ever since America's heroic role in World War II, our politicians have parroted the same mantra. Time and time again, we have been told that the world needs protection from evil regimes threatening our democratic way of life. And yes, there is valid ground for alarm when confronted with the current regimes in North Korea, Iran and the Sudan (to name a few), but it seems America will continue to use terrorism and drugs as an excuse to champion its own economic and military interests.
Alone, this makes us no different than most global communities except for one very significant detail. It seems that every time the U.S. rides into complex foreign situations stampeding like a herd of cows and trampling over diplomacy, we are perceived as capable of causing more chaos than any other single nation. Only the Palestinians have managed to do more damage to its people and territories by their dubious yet democratic election to power of Hamas, a zealous political party that has been linked to terrorism throughout the middle east!
Faced with these somber realities, isn't it infinitely more amusing to listen to the satirical ramblings of political pundits on Comedy Central?
I must confess, I can barely stand to watch the news anymore. I'd rather watch the Daily Show instead!

Our Planet Betrayed

Nature Betrayed

Looking back at the dawn of the 21st century, I vividly remember daring to hope that this remarkable milestone would usher in a renewed worldwide vigor focused on confronting life threatening events such as the accelerated destruction of an already compromised environment, the continued fight against toxic global resources and our blatant exasperation of terrorism and armed global conflicts.
Despite my natural tendency to be pessimistic when it comes to believing in mankind, I still remember clinging to the thought that many well respected scientists had finally tacitly agreed that the earth would not be able to sustain the present level of environmental destruction for another century. Indeed, the numbers were sobering as, one after another, scientific hypothetical scenarios came to similar conclusions: mother earth would no longer be able to sustain life as we know it for another 50 or so years. Indeed, the general scientific consensus reached at environmental conferences throughout the world seemed to be that if people continued to use up this planet's resources at the current rate, there would be precious little life left to save by the next century. Thus, the conclusion that drastic environmental changes had to start taking place was obvious...or so, it seemed.
As of 2011, not only has the U.S., and other governments, continued to deny responsibility for setting in motion events which continue to result in environmental disasters but a sense of urgency seems to be lacking on the part of individual politicians. Not only has the death and displacement of millions of people due to tsunamis, earthquakes, mudslides and hurricanes accelerated the size and scope of nature's fury but, thanks to a seemingly misplaced glorification of corporate greed, we have continued to allow off shore drilling in places that have systematically produced one huge environmental disaster after another including this newest BP oil spill off the coast of Louisiana.
So, who is responsible for creating these growing global economic and environmental disasters? And what about the propagation of terrorism and the continued squandering of earth's natural resources? The fault lies with the global community of course but the U.S.'s role, especially throughout the Bush years, has been particularly deplorable. The co-opting of the 2000 election in Florida followed by the worst terrorist attack suffered on American soil to date assured that the world's only superpower and thus, a major global player, went off half cocked. Since, according to sources, Americans are leaving global footprints three times the size of most other nations (with Great Britain close behind), it seems that "the buck stops here".The undeniable result of America's political agenda for a good part of this decade has resulted in two wars, the further corruption of what was once a sound economic model based on capitalism and, worst of all, a mind blowing environmental policy that has accelerated, rather than slowed, the worst possible grievances against nature to date.
Even the very essence of the American Constitution was perverted in the name of security. For example, what has happened to the idea of separation of Church and State? All of these concerns bring me back to this same question I keep asking myself over and over which is.. "Why have the American people let this happen?"
One of the biggest spiritual lessons humanity needs to learn is the understanding of our evolutionary role as it pertains to life on earth. It is shocking how unenlightened many people's philosophies are regarding our impact upon mother nature's most precious gifts such as animals, plants, oceans and all other forms of life today. The sobering truth is that this whole planet is linked together on a cellular level meaning that if one aspect of life is out of joint, then everything else suffers. Yet people continue to ignore the dangers ahead despite the fact that life as we know it is inexorably intertwined. The passage out of the Old Testament stating that God put man in charge of managing the flora and the fauna to the best of his ability, is sadly one of the most misunderstood and misquoted passages. God's commandment did not mean that man could do as he willed on earth but rather, that the awesome responsibility of keeping life in a healthy balance was bestowed upon us. According to the Old Testament writings, God placed the responsibility of taking care of our earth directly in the hands of mankind!
Sadly, the death toll from violent natural disasters such as the explosive earthquake that ripped through Haiti, the tsunami that tore Japan asunder, and the droughts that are plaguing the African continent are yet other examples of nature's fury resulting in countries being scarred beyond recognition. Nature is striking back but there is no doubt that many of our current environmental disasters are due, in large part, to the effects greedy economic decisions. For the most part, geological experts concede that oil is quickly running out making it imperative that that global consumers find a cleaner, more sustainable source of energy.
Yet, what has been done over the past decade to address fundamental issues such as climate change, the extinction of species, deforestation and the continued poisoning of our drinking water? The answer is sad and pathetic -- very little! Despite President Obama's attempts, over the past few years, to guide businesses towards more sustainable sources of energy, very little has been accomplished because his continuous efforts to broker long term solutions for the current economic crisis have been sabotaged by big money interests. What's even more frightening is that this cabal of the super wealthy have finally managed to buy themselves their very own political puppets who go by the name -- "Tea Party".
When this far-right faction of the Republican party first burst on the scene, I never thought that their philosophies and politics would receive any attention or respect. Far from championing "family" interests, the Tea Party's agenda has centered around providing huge tax breaks to the uber rich directly impacting the current administrations ability to ear-mark government support for health care, day care, jobs, education and social security, in addition to allocating badly needed funds to begin fixing this country's aging infrastructure. The Bush administration made sure that any government agencies meant to oversee banks and corporate restructuring, as well as special branches assigned to policing Wall Street's economic decisions over the past decade were completely de-clawed. The backlash of George Bush's disastrous economic policies reared it's ugly head before President Obama even had a chance to take office. So, why then is no one laying the blame for the 2011 economic meltdown at the feet of this past administration? There is no doubt that America's current financial plight can be directly attributed to the Bush administration.
So, I ask again..."Why is no one driving home the point that this country's predicament can be directly attributed to George Bush's cabinet whose irresponsible military decisions and myopic approach to global economics are the reason why America recently suffered a placement downgrade according to Standard and Poors latest financial analysis. This well respected institution cited the latest congressional and senatorial debacle over raising the debt ceiling as the main reason why there has been a loss of confidence vis a vis the United States's ability to manage it's budget. The worst part of this is that this whole debacle was created mostly by tea party constituents,
We already know that Ronald Reagan's "trickle down economics" was an unmitigated failure so why would George Bush not only champion this economic model by striking down any laws written to protect consumers but, also make sure that any federal oversight agencies created specifically to keep an eye on money market manager's greedy decisions obviously so needed to keep Wall Street in check. So, how much more economic and environmental devastation will it take for human consciousness to wake up?
Thus, back to my initial point. Why are politicians in the U.S. (one of the largest worldwide consumers of resources), global power brokers and members of the Vatican's highest echelon, more concerned about gay marriage, abortion, stem cell research, sex scandals, regulating individual rights to health and happiness, than doing everything in their power to save this planet? How is it even possible that so few people recognize the fact that we are now at the deadly junction of this planet's life or death? And worse, the impending environmental, biological and military catastrophes to come have been somewhat accelerated by the irresponsible rantings of politicians that view the accumulation of power and wealth as the ultimate goal rather than taking a long, hard look at what the pursuit of the almighty dollar is doing to our planet.
I am appalled, frightened, angry, sad and so much more spiritual these days. I really thought mankind would wake up and start putting in place the necessary actions to save this planet. Now, that grave foreboding feeling just keeps growing.
Of course, I don't want to make it sound like no one is trying. There are thousands of commendable people and organizations out there solely dedicated to doing everything they can to save the planet. And to those people, I extend a well respected, "Thank You!". But what about the majority of our politicians? And why is environmental research and development being cut even more so that the wealthiest of American tax payers can keep barely putting in what they are presumably taking out of this country by the billions?
Basically I just want to know, when is enough, enough?

Part II - The Political Moral Compass

As I recall, when democratic politicians were caught cheating on their wives, the then republican representatives screamed and hollered bloody murder claiming that this showed a character weakness which precluded a politician from governing. Can we ever forget what the right wing did to President Clinton over oral sex? No, because millions of tax payer dollars were spent and an American president was internationally humiliated.
But now, how the tables have turned! One after another, republican politicians are getting caught with their hands in the cookie jar. The most egregious part of this whole situation being the fact that these same republican representatives voted time and time again to ban sex education, disallow family planning and for all intents and purposes, relegating women back to the role of being barefoot and pregnant. Any laws presented to ease restrictions on homosexual marriages, benefits and their right to serve in the military has been consistently shot down by what has turned out to be the biggest block of unsavory, hypocritical and down right sleazy group of men in our government in recent memory.
Take the case of Larry Craig who vocally challenged any laws giving homosexuals rights by decrying that this would result in the end of decency in a democracy. So, when he was caught soliciting an undercover agent in an airport bathroom, what was his justification for such behavior? Why, he was a victim of entrapment and took no responsibility for his hypocrisy and pathetic behavior.
Now, normally I'm not one to promote the type of ideological witch hunting that has so obviously taken over a good part of the republican party. However, I do have a serious problem with the fact that every single republican caught cheating to date has refused to acknowledge their mistakes by resigning on the spot. If democrat John Edward's career came to a screeching halt because he had an affair, what consequences are John Enson, Ron Livingston, Eliot Spitzer, Rudy Guliani and Newt Gringich suffering?
Almost every single one of these republican politicians has claimed they have every right to keep their jobs despite demanding the resignations of all democratic perpetrators of similar misjudgements. Despite my distaste for the notion of investigating people's private lives, I say it's time to fight fire with fire. It's time the democrats got their hands dirty and retaliated with the same vengeance that the opposing party senators and congressmen have imposed upon our political landscape since the rise of Ronald Reagan.
Personally, I believe people's private affairs should stay private until it either affects job performance or leads to potential blackmail which, of course, would be detrimental to the business of running this nation. However, if some republican party representatives (including Rush Limbaugh) can sutlely endorse the murder of abortion doctors, the gutting of our children's educational materials, the destruction of military careers and the overall promotion of prejudices, why can't the democrats call a spade a spade and bring to an end the careers of all of these so called "righteous folks"?
I am truly sickened by what I am seeing on television daily. One of the biggest affronts being that the "moral minority" claim to have God on their side. If anyone bothered to read the New Testament and closely studied Jesus's teachings they would undoubtedly be better versed in the meaning of compassion and forgiveness.
This decade of sexual escapades has gone on far too long. As voters, we are entitled to our representatives doing the job that we pay them for on the hill rather than run around digging up dirt on each other. We should stand up and demand that the very serious problems this country faces be dealt with right away. It seems to me, our politicians have been busier thinking about their own campaigns and endorsements rather than actually governing.
For all the big deal that has been made about family values being crucial to running this country, how come no one talks about the obviously wonderful relationship Barak and Michelle Obama enjoy?
I have had enough of Sexcapades 2009! How about you?

Are You Kidding Me? - The CIA

This is a quick blog to seemingly enlighten everyone on a topic that is so obvious, I shouldn't even have to address this issue.
The CIA runs on lies. Their covert activity is one of the things that keeps America informed and, at most times, safe. But, as with any organization, there are lines drawn in the sand that should not be crossed. Ex-Vice President Cheney violated those lines from the start of his rule by his blatant abuse of power. It quickly became incredibly clear that Cheney was not only gutting the constitution's protection of individual rights but apparently, he also treated the CIA to be his own personal gestapo.
President Obama is right. Not all information is for the CIA to divulge to the public. However, it should be blatant tip-off when the current Director of the CIA is willing to face the likes of Nancy Pelosi, (who, in this case, is ill guided), by telling the secret committees investigating "torture" that, indeed, legal transgressions were committed under the leadership of this past administration's vice-president when it came to the business of intelligence gathering.
So, the question is, "Are they ever going to hold certain parties responsible for their crimes?". In my opinion, the incarceration of Dick Cheney is long overdue. What's more, it has become more and more evident that while the U.S. was spending huge resources torturing hundreds of people in order to elicit information regarding Iraq, everyone took their eyes off the real danger of Islamist extremism from terrorist cells for nearly a decade. This had dire consequences regarding the balance of power and the dissemination of weapons to anti-American political organizations. So now we are almost back to square one as President Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton are attempting to escalate our ability to infiltrate the spread of Muslim extremists by sending troops into Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Thus, the real crime that took place is that while military resources were being squandered in Iraq, the Taliban was largely ignored under the Bush administration which afforded them the time and latitude to cement themselves in war torn areas such as Yemen, Sudan and other such corrupt countries. In other words, we exchanged torturing hundreds of people and setting up Guantanamo for allowing the relentless integration of thousands of religious and political zealots into the world's hot spots!
Can these mistakes be rectified under the current administration? I don't know. Militant religious dissemination of people and extremist ideals is an exceedingly serious case that needs to be addressed on a global scale. So right now, the last thing America needs is for our country's defense and security agencies, like the CIA, to be scrutinized by congress members. And why now, may you ask? The answer is simple. Nowadays, the solutions being bandied about on capitol hill regarding America's serious state of economic affairs are, for the most part, some of the most frightening examples of incompetence I've ever had the privilege of hearing. Any attempts by the White House to try and bring the opposing GOP party members to agree on reasonable solutions, like health care, in order to start solving the myriad of financial problems our country now faces have been rebuked in favor of some of the most idiotic arguments I've ever heard including debates over "death panels" and why the richest 2% of Americans should continue to enjoy tax breaks when the rest of us regular folks are losing our life savings.
If the congress and senate cannot make heads of tails of our domestic policy, I think it's safe to assume that to hold hearings to ostensibly force our state agencies, such as the CIA, to be more transparent would most definitely grievously harm America's defence and security. The ability to gather intelligence and work hand in hand with our allies is even more crucial now that it has ever been. After all, Black Ops is called that for a reason and sharing with all of our congress and senate members the most classified of U.S. secrets would be a colossal mistake!
Good luck America! You are going to need it.

The Political Moral Compass

Once again, we have been assailed over the past few weeks with tales of extramarital affairs featuring, this time around, Republican Mark Sanford as the latest politician to be embroiled in a sex scandal!
Much to my complete confusion over this matter, it seems that politician's personal affairs are judged to somehow to have a bearing on their job performance and the office that they hold. As I see it, this topic must be an exclusively American cultural phenomenon because I can't think of any other country in the world where a politician's sexual activities are somehow deemed everybody's business!
For example, following the death of their twice elected ex-President, Francois Mitterand, the French came up with an ingeneously diplomatic solution when presented with the thorny issue of differing funeral agendas to honor their well respected President. The first funeral was a huge event featured on national television which was attended by prominent international figures and important heads of state, along with his wife and children. The second funeral however, was a more private affair and included his close confidants, as well as his beloved, long time mistress and was just as well attended! At the time, no one batted an eye in France and the whole event was actually a matter of national pride for the French because of the events fabulous fanfare and grand send-offs befitting a popular president!

In contrast, the overblown sex scandal leading to the prosecution of President Clinton during the mid-90s over his brief daliance with the frankly, witless Monica Lewinsky was a national embarresment that left international politicians scratching their heads. The thing that most incensed me during this witchunt against the then President Clinton was the complete waste of time, resources and money that was spent to humiliate a man that was our leader of the free world. I was so appalled by the colossel waste of resources for what seemed to me a matter between a man and his wife, I once again questioned this American sport of destroying political futures in the name of morality.

So, what is the saying? Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones?