Sometimes you take your eyes off the political scene for a moment, look up at the sky, take a breath of fresh air and look down again, seeing with refreshed eyes how sordid it all is. This year there are essential political issues from the city councils to Washington – 11 years of war and the dire effects of deregulated chronic economic recession. Yet it is the genius of the political rule of the super-rich that people are forced into a moral wasteland between idiocy and cynicism.
We went out to UC Merced two weeks ago for the debate between Democrat Adam Gray and Republican Jack Mobley, candidates for the 21th Assembly District seat. The weather was pleasant. At dusk the Boondoggle Mistral was blowing softly, some boys were kicking lazy goal shots on the soccer field, people strolled down the main street of the campus, dorm residents were playing pool and  ping pong and studying in their common rooms. All was well before one found one’s way to the knot of people waiting for the political debate outside the unmarked hall where it would be held.