And he was sitting on the counter because we were brushing his teeth. Jen’s standing right next to him and me right in front him. He was in no danger at all, I promise.

We had a big combined birthday party for my mom, and my in-laws. Their birthdays are all in the first week of July so we decided to have a big dinner. We ended up talking about politics (it was all my fault). With a fun cross-section of political reasoning at the table it was lively to say the least. It was mostly presidential with my mom bringing up anti-Clinton stuff, my father-in-law defending him where possible, and me playing devil’s advocate. I ended up realizing (thanks to my mother-in-law) and we kept bringing up examples of the same kind of behavior for both Clinton and Bush Jr, just different situations. I think I’ve figured it out. By the time you get to be President, you’re beholden to certain parties who helped you get there. For Bush, those interests involve huge energy and oil companies like Enron and the defense industry, which explains some of the problems he’s had with his top secret energy taskforce.

It’s depressing that politics is dirty. Maybe dirty is too strong a word, but it definitely has the appearance of payback, unethical behavior and being sold to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, I don’t see any hope on the horizon. There is no idealistic third party with enough organization, money or good ideas to provide an alternative. What do we do?

I’m feeling better today. Still a little down, but definitely not despondant. Not exactly sure what was going on last night. Everything is ready for the in-law’s visit, and I can’t wait to see them. I think it’s great that we have such a great relationship, and that Jen has a good relationship with my parents. It makes things SO much easier.