Politics and the Dentist

I endured three hours--and lots of drilling--in the dentist's chair today, and apparently it's only the first of many sessions to come. I tried to do it with grace, though there was one period when I felt like I couldn't breathe, and I know I squirmed. I asked if he was almost through, and he said, "No. We're not getting very far. You're moving." So I did as the tech suggested--closed my eyes, breathed through my nose. It went better but none of it was pleasant. Almost as painful as watching politics on the TV.
I watched the Republican convention last night, because I had vowed to hear both sides of the story Whether I watched with an open mind or not is questionable, but I tried. My main impression was that the whole evening had such a military air to it--the former POWs, the constant reminders of McCain's sufferings as a stubborn POW who refused to give up information and paid the price, the president reminding us as he has for the last eight years that we "live in a dangerous world." I am so tired of trying to be frightened into accepting war tha the whole thing dismayed me. Fred Thompson, who I used to like on Law and Order but don't much care for as a politician, did say, "Being a POW doesn't show you can be president, but it does show character" or something to that effect. I am constantly getting the impression that we should vote for McCain because he's a war hero--and God give him every bit of credit that he deserves for his bravery. But he would also be a war president, and our worst presidents have been generals. In all fairness, I hear tonight is to be dedicated to the economy, which was not mentioned last night.
Thompson also called Governor Palin a "breath of fresh air." Who can help but be drawn into that fascinating scenario? One hardly knows what to believe about the daily increasing "revelations" about her and her family, and today I heard that her social security number has even been posted on the internet. I can't see what purpose that would serve even the mudslingers--does it prove something awful about her character? Do they think someone will steal her identity, even as prominently in the public eye as she is? I think the "revelations" about her and her family are unfair, nasty, uncalled for. But I do know she scares me--her extreme right-wing positions on abortion, guns, states' rights. I am curious to know more about her supposed pork barrel funds in her small town and her alleged abuse of power, but we may never get the truth about those things. What scares me most is her absolute, deadening inexperience with national and international politics--how can we put someone like that the proverbial heartbeat away from the presidency, separated only by a man in his seventies who has had several bouts with melanoma and whose long-term health surely suffered from his horrendous experiences as a POW? Palin's appointment scares me about McCain too--it seems he did it on a whim, without thorough vetting, and wouldn't be talked out of it. Can you picture Palin, with her shriill voice and aggressive manner, sitting opposite the cold, calm and calculating Putin? Negotiating with North Korea?
The world, it seems to me, has gone screwy. I'm going back to the fantasy world of mysteries.