extreme polarization sludge has taken over the politics of the county due mainly to the re-election process. the parties have reduced themselves to leveraging media to ignite political media bombs. collecting enough donations and getting enough votes. the actual legislation is just pay back, usually. there really should be an effort to limit terms. the unfortunate part is that what they do is actually very important and has consequences. if we got their minds off getting re-elected, they could do very good things. important things. and they still do good and important things despite the sludge. however, the other aspect of our current political state is the pure entertainment value. because this is interesting and very funny. fox and msnbc illustrate this firmly. to my daughters disgust, when i watch tube i flip around. flip from fox to msnbc. watch them cover the same stories. this might be a way to start the process of understanding both sides. the stars are in the media. the caricatures are mainly true. since downgrading politics to an entertainment level as opposed to a guiding light level in the volatile regions of my mind (same for my interested observer status toward the dallas cowboys--fandom no more), my perspective has broadened considerably. if the truth were told, bush and obama were, and are, disappointments to the extreme reaches of their own parties, especially economically. we muddle in the sludge, day after day. we get updates every night. debates, 6 on the screen at the same time. all talking. some disagreeing, some not. eventually, scope broadens and blinders fall. the proper citizen's perspective is gained.