Keep it to yourself

"They all stink."

"It's like choosing between the lesser of two evils."

"They're all as honest as used car salesmen."

"What difference does it make anyway?"

"I'm too busy to pay attention."

I've heard all of the above from people aged 45+ regarding Presidential politics. I wonder if these cynical and lazy citizens feel at all responsible for the casualties in Iraq, waterboarding, Blackwater, the heartbreak and shame of Katrina, and the mess that became of the US Attorney General's office. For it's their laziness and cynicism that helped re-elect George W. Bush.

I'd like to think that this is the legacy of Richard Nixon. That the abuses of Watergate so scarred us that we don't have faith in the system anymore. But that's too easy. By the time you're 45 or older, you really have to take responsibility for your own actions and attitudes.

One of the most exciting things about this Presidential election -- on both the Republican and Democratic sides -- is how involved young people have become: Barack Obama is drawing rockstar crowds of people 30 and under; Ron Paul is raising amazing sums of money, courtesy of his merry band of young internet experts. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert enjoy a predominantly college-aged demographic. This new generation seems to get it in a way their parents don't.

If their parents' generation can't share their joy, enthusiasm, excitement and involvement, I hope they can at least shut up and not rain on their parade.

Of course, I'm the kind of corny patriot who gets choked up at the National Anthem before a baseball game. (Which is why the doping scandal upsets me, too, but I'm going to stop now …before my brain blows up.)