2016-08-01 – These days I usually watch political conventions on time delay. I wait until the next day so that I can skip the parts that don’t really matter. And I’m never surprised by how long a speaker drones on and on because the time of a speech is stamped right on the video. I did that through the RNC and I did that through most of the DNC. It’s very efficient.

And I get the same message as everyone else. The RNC was horrifying. The DNC was heartening. (And the Trump reaction to the DNC was horrifying again.)

As heartening as the DNC was, I’m still left with the feeling that the country is in a bad place. On one side, shouting has taken the place of policy. On the other side, people are suspicious of a candidate who seems eminently reasonable. If you’re reasonable, you must be hiding something, right? Good grief.

It all makes me very sad.

And already, I can barely stand the thought of enduring the next three months of the presidential campaign—the tick, tick, tick of the ups and the rush of the downs.

But endure it we all will. I just think it is important to stop once in a while and say this without any analysis.