I distinctly remember an episode of Leave It To Beaver where the 10 year-old Beaver is sitting in what was called Civics class. As I had no idea what civics was, I figured it had to be some outdated discipline that, like the pogo stick, went out of style by the dawn of the 1960s.

I think of myself as a smart, well-informed person. But I have to admit, I have no idea how our government really works. A product of a decent public school in upstate New York, I received half-a-year of instruction in Economics and half-a-year in American Government. Of course I can tell you how a bill becomes a law and all that, but beyond basic ideas, I really have a hard time navigating the economic, policy, and political functioning of our country.

I have a been reading Bill Clinton's book, and although it's construction is a hodgepodge of colloquialisms (you can just hear his accent when you're reading the book), I have to say that I am learning a lot about the structure of political campaigning, the role that the executive branch of our government plays, and the day-to-day activities, decisions, and struggles our leaders face. Yes, Bubba spends a lot of time talking up his achievements and dropping names, but I am quite impressed by the solid political, social, religious, and economic philosophy he follows in (even if I do not always agree with it). I believe that George W. Bush would be hard-pressed to offer a similarly articulate portrait of his own philosophy (after all, during a Republican debate 2000 elections he responded to the question "Who is your favorite political philosopher?" with "Jesus Christ, because he saved my life.") Ok, this may be a good answer if have forgotten the principle of "separation of church and state" (which unfortunately many, although not the popular majority, have). Furthermore, it wouldn't be a bad idea for Mr. Bush to follow Jesus' teaching a little more closely if he is going to make this claim. Clinton is a scary, born-again Southern Baptist too, but he keeps it on the low-down. After all, there are a lot of voters who are not Christian fundamentalists. What kind of leader alienates huge numbers of his population like that?

I want a president who is intelligent, who makes me feel confident that he (or she, but let's face it...) will make the right decisions most of the time. I don't trust George W. Bush and I don't respect him. How sad is that? He scares me, not because I believe in some conspiracy, new world order theory, but because he is the person that is responsible for my well-being and the well-being of my country. He is our first line of defense and he can barely string a sentence together. He is caught in a tangle of lies and sketchy scenarios, and he doesn't even have a reassuring speaking style. I don't want to feel ashamed anymore.

I long for a country that teaches its citizens how to be good citizens. Where we understand that the job of the president isn't just to be "a good guy", but a policy maker, an ambassador, a politician, a manager, a caretaker, and a symbol. We also need to understand the role we each play as the electors of a leader who, although he may not seem to directly impact our daily, blessed lives, influences the lives of billions of people living on this planet. We are citizens of the most powerful country in the world and our responsibility is great. We need to make our decisions carefully. We need to be informed, to learn how to process political messages and make judgments based on more than Jesus and facial expressions. I hereby dedicate myself to becoming a good (albeit absent) citizen of the United States. I don't care who anyone votes for, as long as they can give me some well-supported reasons.

Ok. I do care. I really don't think this world can handle 4 more years Bush and his cronies.

I am off to order my absentee ballot.