Change? They want change?

No shit!

Things always change, of course -- that's the nature of, well, things. Sadly, they often are inclined to change for the worse. At this point in our history, things are as bad as they've been for quite some time, and it appears they'll get worse before they get better. That, of course, is not the kind of change people are demanding. People want things to get "better." The question is, how?

The leading Republican candidates for president don't seem to have an answer to that question. They all seem to think what's needed is more of the same; more tax cuts, more war, more restrictions on civil liberties. As for the leading Democratic candidates, well...

Hillary Clinton says, "Just trust me. My experience as First Lady means I understand the change you want even better than you do, and I promise to deliver. It'll be just like when Bill was President. You'll be back to drinking lattes and making paper fortunes in no time flat!"

Uh huh. She'll just "change" things back to the way they were before Dubya (I miss you, Molly Ivins) and all your dreams will come true. But what if you're like me, and the Clinton Administration made you nostalgic for the liberalism of the Nixon Administration? And by the way, just what's the chance of Hillary voluntarily giving up those new authoritarian powers Bush/Cheney usurped for the presidency? (I'd put it just shy of 0.03%.)

Barack Obama, darling of the very young and the incurably romantic, wants us to believe he'll be able to successfully put an end to red/blue animosities. In a new spirit of hope, he promises, we'll all do what's best for America.

Could anybody elected to the United States Senate be innocent enough actually to believe that? Do you believe that? If you do, please forgive my expression of awed incredulity. Try to remember that while you're holding hands in a circle and singing Kumbaya, it's really easy to pick your pockets.

Both Clinton and Obama are very well funded, though, so they must be doing something right. To figure out what that might be, we'll have to follow the money -- but I'll save that (and John Edwards) for another day.