The Politics of Insomnia

I have officially given up on sleeping this night.
I don't know why, but i just cant seem to shut down. It may be related to the sad state of political affairs in this country that has be revved up.
Politics has been a rancorous and ugly process since ancient times, but it looks worse up close. I guess I expect better of our enlightened modern selves than I do of the men of old, though apparently I should not. Well, there is far less murdering in the streets now so we have that going for us.
I find that the subject of election year politics is so polarizing that it is nearly impossible to have a civil discussion with someone unless they are already in agreement with you. Even then it is difficult to have an intelligent conversation. I find that most people make visceral rather than reasoned decisions about who to support. Few people can give you their reasons for supporting Candidate Alpha over Candidate Beta, they just don't like the other guy. As long as they can vilify Beta, Alpha's policies are policies are not relevant nor open for discussion. Any defense of Beta is seen as an attack on Alpha even if you are correcting some bit of verifiably false information. In all likelihood your new info will be dismissed as media bias and you will be dismissed as a patsy.
It is a sad state of affairs and I wish I were better and more eloquent writer so that I could make an impassioned plea for change that would move the hearts of my countrymen to do better. Move them to ask the tough questions and demand good answers of candidates instead of platitudes and ad hominem attacks. I feel we are half way there, but that second half is much bigger than the first. Citizens do demand answers, but only from the Other Guy. And no answer can be good enough.