If you thought my joke was insensitive, you’re probably already voting for Barack Obama.

After I got back from Colorado, I checked my email. I was surprised to hear from an old friend from Clear Lake High School. He had been a staunch conservative in the 1980s but, now, he is an outspoken liberal. He dropped out of college in the 1980s and never went back. He’d held a few jobs but had not had any steady employment over the last twenty-four years.

One of my old friend’s reasons for supporting Obama is his position on universal health care. He once had a health plan but he quit the job that had provided it. It would be easy for him to get another job as he is both able-bodied and intelligent. But he says he’s burned out and fatigued. So, instead, he’ll vote for the candidate that’ll make sure he gets his health care regardless of whether he ever gets another job with benefits.

If you think my analysis too harsh, you are probably actively campaigning for Barack Obama.

I know it isn’t always easy for those in the minority to force those in the majority to conform to their needs. After all, it rarely makes logical sense. But, when they do succeed, it is usually an argument won on emotion, rather than logic. There’s just something about those who’ve suffered greatly that gives them an air of moral superiority. And there’s something about helping them that makes us really great people, too.

After another day’s work as a writer I’m off to the back yard to take in the sun in my favorite hammock. If I weren’t such a pragmatist I’d be getting there following a yellow brick road.