You can stick a fork in me, I’m done. I cannot watch any more of the election news or reporting this year. I am fed up and will spend the rest of this month quietly reading a good book in some dark room of my house.

In my opinion, if you have not made up your mind as to who you want to vote for in the upcoming Presidential election, you must have either (1) been held in solitary confinement in a prison or (2) in the far off reaches of outer space or (3) you are too dumb to participate in the electoral process.

Up until last night I had fairly high hopes for our party in this country to pull it off and show the fundamental differences between liberal and conservative philosophy. But, alas it was not to be and last nights display showed me (along with many others) that in spite of months of rhetoric and name calling, it is still them… (Congressmen) and us.

Last night, both of the Presidential candidates appeared at a fund raiser dinner in New York City. Both were in tie and tails as were the bejeweled members of the obviously wealthy audience. I don’t think tickets to this soiree would have been available to the likes of you and me. Joe the plumber was not in attendance. If he was, he might have been disguised as a waiter.

Anyway, the two candidates had just finished their last and final debate the evening before. In that debate the terms, terrorist and liar were tossed back and forth with equal contempt. The stress between the two was visibly evident by looking at their jaws, which were clenched as tight as any bull dog that I have ever seen.

No, last night, all was forgotten and it was back to the old boys club. With hardy laughs, claps on the back and accolades flowing sweetly between two men who had appeared to the public as sworn enemies less than twenty four hours before. Obviously what is on the campaign trail is an act meant to sway our votes and mask their true feelings and beliefs.

We are stupid, they are brilliant.

They are in and we are out.

I don’t know why I was surprised. It was back to business as usual. The good old boys in government and us. Rome is burning, the hurricane is coming, plagues are in the air and our leaders are sipping fine wines from crystal glasses and toasting each other on how ‘honorable’ and ‘history making’ they are. There were enough big laughs and smartly prepared comic speeches to pull everyone in attendance together for a gala evening.

A night to remember.

Except for those of us standing outside looking in.

No, the economy is in the toilet and we can’t get enough real information on who was to blame. Was it the Democrats under Jimmy Carter or a law passed by Republican Senator Phil Gramm’All we know is that our retirements have evaporated; our costs are going up…we have not heard anything from anyone with any proof on how we got into this mess or for that matter how we can escape. The only tool available to our government is to throw more money (ours) at the problem and hope it goes away. Meanwhile those in the know, and probably at the party last night, make millions or billions from the markets no matter which way the markets shift. I think the term… ‘golden parachutes’ is a misnomer and they should now be called … ‘platinum parachutes’. One such company (AIG) had the gall to borrow over 122 billion from us, the taxpayers and then sent some of their executives on a $440,000 party and another group to England (cost of $87,000) to do a little hunting. I think the grouse were in season. I guess when you have it flaunt it. Incidentally the Federal Reserve has elected to keep the details of the second (37 billion) loan secret and the details hidden from the public.

Not that we have a right to know. We just pay the bills, no need for us to know what the monies are being used for. Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead.

How dare we question those in authority’How dare we stamp our feet and demand to know the truth about our government’How dare we ask that our elected representatives actually vote according to the wishes of the people rather than how they personally feel or what they receive for their congressional votes’

No, last night just reaffirmed my nagging suspicions that in spite of all of the political posturing we’ve seen and heard over the past months, there is still major class distinction in this country. I find it hard to believe that those in attendance at last night’s dinner could or would be able to identify with the majority of average Americans.

No one there appeared to be concerned with the faces at the window.

“Close the drapes; please…those people are offensive to us.”

As you are to us.