WHAT'S WRONG WITH OUR DEMOCRACY

I know what you're thinking: how nice of the Empathic Rationalist to pick such a cheerful title for this post! Well, what can I say? I was feeling in a particularly happy mood when I woke up this morning and wanted to make everyone else happy too.

So why I am feeling so joyous? Next weekend, I'm preparing to take a one-week vacation all over California. And there's something about the idea of vacationing in California that always puts me in a good mood. Maybe it's their weather. Or maybe it's their culture (upbeat, hedonistic, etc.). Whatever it is, California is one of my favorite places. And I mean all of California, or at least the entire coast. Some people bash LA, but I find some truth in a friend's line about why LA is better than San Francisco: "If you're going to be shallow, don't be snobbish about it."

Truth is, I kind of prefer San Francisco -- I mean, I'm not crazy. But L.A.'s fun too. And San Diego. And the Redwood National Forest is probably my favorite place in the whole state.

Why is it again that I live in the D.C. area?

Oh yeah. I grew up there. And that turned me into a politics junky. Some things we just can't change about ourselves.

So, with the above in mind, allow me to spend my final week in the coast d'ugly sharing some ideas about the area of my addiction. And since I'm still in the east, allow me to be nice and critical. I want to speak the truth, of course -- Empathic Rationalism demands nothing less -- but it just so happens that my version of the truth can often come across as very negative. Such is life. For the next week, all my posts will be political in nature and will point out some less-than-perfect things about our political parties. Trust me, it won't be hard to think of a few. Or a few hundred.