1 December—New feature debuts today: The Daily Dialogue. Just El Liberalissimo and me for now, usually in a point-counterpoint match, El’s concise point, my tedious counterpoint. But everyone is welcome to join the fun. On a fallow day it can be a monologue, just the doughty Daily Disquisition.

So here’s El’s perfectly valid point: “Interesting. Is there a point beyond your own frustration with all politicians but one or two and your obvious over-abundance of socks?”

And my equally valid counterpoint: First, El, how did you know I had an over-abundance of socks? I’d prefer to call it a plethora. Have you been going through my drawers? On second thought, though, it’s not a plethora or over-abundance at all—because you can never have too many socks, given their tendency to disappear one by one in the bowels of washing machines, never to be found. Boy, do I have unsolved sock-disappearance mysteries to relate. But I won’t.

In all events, I must assure faithful readers that all my socks are conservative solid colors, duplicated for pair-reconstitution and replacement purposes, except for one freebie pair of lifetime-guaranteed knee socks with an American flag motif and a long story behind it; I’ve been intending to wear those with breeks (knee-britches). But I don’t have breeks. Still.

So is my frustration with pols that obvious? Great! But I’ve never tried to conceal it. Quite the contrary. A good pol is hard to find. On second thought, a good pol is easy to find—too easy to find. That’s the problem. Even the good, honorable people who venture into politics—and not just elective office—for all the right reasons tend over time—long or short, as the case may be—to descend into the depths of self-interest and ego gratification above all.

Politicians have more power than non-politicians by virtue of what they do and how they do it. Very simple, very obvious. And never forget that power corrupts.

Politics is or are (construe the word in the singular or plural, as the spirit moves you) a function of society. If you don’t live alone—even if you interact with only one other person—you necessarily engage in politics. Think about it. Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, among others, have written at length about the so-called social contract, in essence the relationship of individuals to each other and society as a whole.

So you can’t escape politics, you can’t live in society and not be a politician, you can’t interact and not be a politician. But then there are the professional politicians, the ones I call pols. Many if not most good pols are anything but good people, never were good people, never will be good people. They’re in it for themselves. And the best pols—even the honorable ones—who claim they’re not politicians are full of it. Either that or they share my disdain of pols to such an extent that has influenced their self-delusion.

By the same token, I hold human nature in low esteem at the best of times. And politicians are merely a reflection of their constituencies. So I guess I shouldn’t be expecting too much from pols. Thus, El, it’s not inaccurate to speak of my “frustration with all politicians but one or two,” but it would more accurate and to the point to speak of my disgust and disdain of most professional politicians . . .