No Mas

I've finished with politics and the media as it's just too much for me to handle.

Politicians have their own agenda -- and I don't want to know what it is as that escalates my stress, rather than providing me with comfort in a time of crisis. Is Obama an American citizen? Is McCain in the final stages of fatal melanoma? Is Joe Biden a loud-mouthed, self-serving jerk? Is Sarah Palin guilty of using her executive power to fire a public official?

Who cares? I've never seen one concrete fact to justify any of the hundreds of accusations, but am constantly bombarded with "what if" and "according to an unnamed source" speculation in the guise of responsible journalism.

Journalists now create the news and fan the media firestorms, rather than research the story. Innuendo is considered a reliable source; conjecture has become research; and hyperbole is the preferred writing style.

What pushed me over the edge, however, was a CEO called to Washington to explain his [irresponsible] actions during his tenure at a major financial institution. His explanation is that he, too, isn't happy that he's lost so much of his retirement fund ... millions and millions of dollars! Perhaps he wants me to feel sorry for him, but that simply isn't in me as I watch my pathetic little retirement account dwindle not to fewer millions, but toward nothing.

I can't live in crisis management mode, so I'm dropping out. Whatever happens Nov 4 happens; there is absolutely nothing I can do to influence the outcome of the election, the same way that I was completely unable to explain basic finances to a person living on credit cards and unable even to pay the interest each month. I worried more about it than the debtor, whose solution was to declare bankruptcy and start spending again. Thankfully, there are always more credit card offers in the mail.

That doesn't work for me, but who am I to criticize another? We're both going to vote, perhaps canceling each other's vote, and life will continue one way or the other.