State turned blue (What is that you said? You gotta whistle in the wind and again...)

I am happy to report that the latest polls show the democrats leading in both the Senate and the House races for the first time in...well, a really long time. (2002?) So what caused this shift in voter opinion? It must be the awful mess we got ourselves into in Iraq, right? Nope. Ok, so then it's the brushing aside of Habeas Corpus? The legalization of torture? The rewriting of the Geneva Conventions? Illegal wiretaps? The secret prisons? No, of course not. The American people aren't concerned with such petty issues. The recent swing in the polls is no doubt a result of the Foley scandal. Don't get me wrong, I'll take the lead regardless of the reason, but come on, seriously? What is it about this country that causes us to turn a blind eye to everything except a sex scandal? The 90s were a time of a roaring economy and peaceful prosperity, (for the most part) but all that people remember is an intern and a blue dress. Now we're in a time of crisis where our civil liberties are being tossed aside like yesterday's spinach and the whole world sees us as imperialistic aggressors, but the biggest news to come out of Washington is a horny, old, gay, alcoholic, priest-abused Congressman pedophile. Absolutely, it is a problem. Absolutely, there should be an investigation. Absolutely, if the GOP was covering it up, they should be held accountable. But come on, why is this the only thing people can use to get interested in politics? I love discussing current events, but most people I interact with on a daily basis have little to no exposure to world and political events. When the detainee bill was passed, I was hard pressed to find people to discuss it with. Now, it seems like everyone is an expert on FL-16 and Mark Foley. (except maybe Bill O'Reilly) As soon as the scandal fervor dies down, everyone is going to go right back to the rock they so love to live under. It's frustrating.

And on a side note: It doesn't really matter what the polls (or the electorate) say, because as long as we're using Diebold voting machines, the Republicans are going to mysteriously win...again.