You Win. I Win. We Lose.

Playing on the iPod: 2002, from "River of Stars." The aforementioned quote is Jackson Browne, however.
Meters swum today: 0. Overslept.

Look, I hate this whole us vs. them thing. No matter who the us and them are - Catholics vs. Muslims, Republicrats vs. Demmicans, cute Texas gymnasts vs. Chinese infants - the outcome is always the same: We lose. We, the human race, the planet, all beings, and so on.

Still, this is an election year and Us and Them are out in force. I do vote, as every thinking adult should, and I do have this to say about the coming election; this is the most well-defined Us and Them I've ever seen.

I mean, have you guys seen some of the photos from the respective party convention floors? On the Democrat side in Denver we have a bunch of folks that would not be out of place on a street in downtown Dallas. A slim majority of white folks. More black folks than Hispanic but a fair amount of each. Some Asians, Middle Easterners and plenty of people about whom you just can't tell. They're mostly older - you have to have some party clout to get into this thing, which usually means you've been working for them for a while - but other than that, quite the diverse bunch of folks. I'll bet we have most of the major religions in there, although you can't usually tell that by looking at somebody. Heck, there may even be a Buddhist or two. Of course the nominee is Christian - hard to imagine a presidential nominee who was any other religion, except maybe Jewish, and only then if his/her name isn't Lieberman - but other than that, a nice slice of humanity. Maybe next time we can get some animals and plants in there, too.

Meanwhile, in St. Paul, we have - rich white people. Scads and scads of rich white people.

Okay, I know there must be some nonChristian nonwhite nonrich folks who are planning to vote Republican this November, but I guess none of them were invited to the convention. Or else they are all camera shy. Or else - I don't know what else.

So besides everything else that's at stake this November, we have the ultimate smackdown: The Rich White People vs. Everyone Else on the Planet. Or at least that's what it looks like. Any nonrich nonwhite Republicans care to comment?

Oh, and do I need to tell you whose side I'm on?