Back from Texas

I feel tired, depressed, disenchanted, deflated, elated, stoked and stunned.

I'm disgusted with the bickering and fighting.

I want to believe in this political system - but watching the meat grinding machine in action leaves little room for Obama's highly tauted hope.

What are we supposed to do with passion, drive, and capacity when the realities of making an impact are so painfully disembodied from the action on the ground? When the nightly news plays Hillary beaming over a cheering crowd, it is hard to imagine that behind that cheshire grin lie tens of thousands of Texans who insulted and assaulted their neighbors in the face of baldfaced political uncertainty.

It's easy to believe in change. The true challenge is in realizing that change when the system frowns on your optimism. The United States is not divided, but just ineffectually disparate.

As David Martinez said, "It was one of the saddest and most disgusting scenes of democracy I have seen anywhere around the world."

We should be ashamed and saddened. But we should also feel incensed to fight for something bigger and nobler. Democracy is not dead -- just dirtied in the eyes of this perpetual optimist.