The conversation:

Me: “I’m really glad I make you laugh.  And it’s a genuine laugh, too.”

Mi Amore: “Yeah. but in elementary school, I used to laugh when kids’ pencils fell off their desks.”

Me: (to self) “Don’t worry, Ego.  We can stop the bleeding.”

The resulting word: Egomaniacal Infarction – n.: When your ego is wounded so badly, a piece of it dies.

It’s no secret, my disdain for politicians.  I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent, a Gree, a Red, or if you’re just yellow.  If you are a career politician, the chances are pretty good that I don’t like you — or, at least, what you represent while you are doing your job.

No, I have nothing against government, and I believe all nations should be governed by democratic law (not Democratic law, but that’s another story).  But, when the constitution was written, it was done with the express intent that the nation’s rulers would be civilians — that Farmer Joe, Mechanic Bill, Engineer Sarah and Unemployed Mildred would have an opportunity to run for office.

It doesn’t work that way now, though.  The cost to do so is so prohibitive that only people with either a) immense popularity (Jesse “The Body” Ventura), immense quantities of cash (Al Gore) or both (Arnold Schwarzenegger) can put up any fight at all.  Just look at the presidential race last year, where Barack Obama’s campaign outspent John McCain’s campaign by so much, that the difference in spending between the two camps exceed the maximum ever previously spent on a campaign.  For a complete nobody to raise that kind of scratch is nigh on impossible.

Now, the saying states that “with great power comes great responsibility.”  Understand that, and this one fact: the federal government exists to serve the people.  Yes, they are our leaders, but their lead was intended to be one in which all decisions made were to be for the purpose of improving the overall quality of life for the citizens of the United States.

There are, however, a number of people who have found grasping that concept quite elusive.  And I give you Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) as Exhibit A.

While speaking in public with Briggadier General Michael Walsh, she admonished him for calling her “ma’am” rather than “senator.”  The Army code of etiquette explicitly states that “ma’am” is a perfectly acceptable way to address a female senior official.

Was it protocol to refer to her as “senator?”  Absolutely not.  Her reasoning was (and I quote the little ankle-biting twerp with an over-inflated ego): “It’s just a thing, I worked so hard to get that title.”

Need I remind the senator that it is citizens such as Gen. Walsh who vote members of Congress into their jobs?  Is she so out of touch with the general public that she thinks we are all beneath her?

This is a shining example of why electing career politicians is so damaging to fabric of this nation.  She, and essentially all of her colleagues, are out of touch with the people who make up the vast majority of the population: the working middle class.  The people who generally get paid way too little to do way too much, so people in her “upper” class can make more and work less — and show absolutely no respect for it.

What amazes me more than the gall these people have is the short memories of the voting population.  These moments of glaring idiocy are completely forgotten during an election year because of all the promises being made that we, during any other year, know will never come close to being fulfilled.  Are we that blind?  That stupid?  That easily misled?

I urge you: during the next election cycle, find the candidate — Red or Blue — who has a genuine passion for the United States, not a genuine passion for power, and vote for them.  Because, as oxymoronic as it sounds, the best leaders are those who are reluctant to lead.