Too paralyzed to vote

The presidential election looms large and as someone who usually knows my mind I admit I am flummoxed as to what I should do. I mean, I'm supposed to vote, right? And for a candidate, right? The best man or woman?

Well, I would -- IF THE BEST MAN OR WOMAN WAS RUNNING FOR OFFICE!

None of the choices is the best. Obama or Clinton -- no contest as far as I'm concerned. They both talk a good game but if you listen real closely, it's just "blah, blah, blah," not unlike the schoolteacher's voice in the Peanuts cartoon.

They promise us the moon but let's face it, if NASA gets any money to actually get men back to the lunar surface it will have to be classified as an act of God.

They promise to cut taxes. That's great if you live on the margin, barely scraping by but making enough to owe Uncle Sam his share. But what of the solid, stolid, stalwart middle class? They make too much to avoid paying taxes, but not enough to survive the loss of whatever money they are forced to send the feds. Yet it's the middle class who likely won't get any tax relief. They're perceived as having too much.

Clinton freaks me out with her casual remarks about income redistribution. She doesn't call it that, but she implies it. Maybe I did sleep through college economics, but isn't income redistribution a hallmark of communism?

Obama and his pastor freak me out. I know, I know, he's denounced the good Rev. Wright but really, does anyone believe Obama hasn't been sitting in the pews all these years listening to screed after screed against white folks in America? I love being lumped in with all the avowed and in-your-face racist jerks just because I'm white. Thanks much for that generalization.

Then there's John McCain. His military record and time as a POW aren't in dispute. The man is notable if only for surviving hell on earth to later become a U.S. senator.

But does heroism or endurance in the face of adversity automatically qualify you to be president of the most powerful nation in the free world?

I'm just not convinced, and judging by the comments I hear on talk radio and various television news shows, a lot of other people aren't, either.

So I'm back to square one and a ballot that has my name on it come November. I can't not vote, but I can't vote for someone I don't think is qualified or at the very least believeable.

Where are those pesky independent candidates when we need 'em?