Let me finish tonight with this.
We are in a dangerous time in politics. There are no big fights in Congress. There is no raging push by the President for action, nor the counter-force of resistance by the opposition Republicans.
There is only the unsettling air out there: the stir raised by the George Zimmerman case down in Florida; the embarrassment of the Secret Service agents caught with sex workers; the scandal of that over-the-top GSA party out West.
As I said, this is a dangerous time, especially for a president and a political party controlling the White House. People want a leader. They want someone in control, want to feel the authority coming from the top. Otherwise, chaos takes its part. The ranks start to abuse their liberties. Trouble comes into the air.
And that's what it feels like right now politically. I don't like it.
Ill winds are blowing. Resentment is in the air, unchecked resentment, and the natural authority figures are missing from the scene.
I like it when President Obama is out there fighting the opposition in Congress. I like it when there are high stakes on the table and the American people can see their champions fighting for what's right. They like a rhoubarb out there on the playing field, a good fight to know that their interests are being protected, or at least battled for.
Right now there is just unease in the air, an unsettled criminal case, a messy bit of behavior by men with an historic brand for stoic courage. People who are duty-bound to keep the order are now seen on the grill for a bad night of anything but.
I don't like it. It's times like this that the small people rise up, the exploiters of trouble, those who fish in troubled waters. Up on Capitol Hill, you see them peeking out from their offices, issuing statements of "interest," trying in their small, careful ways to find themselves a role.
It's time for this president, elected to a much bigger role, to grab the reigns, pull them sternly, and lead this country to a clear, healthy direction. Nothing braces us. Nothing gives us better days, better sleep, than the palpable feel of a president calling the shots.
Right now, he's not, and it's why the little people are making all the noise.