I Shouldn't Have Watched.

I broke my personal moratorium last night on watching any television related to the presidential campaign. I had promised myself I would watch no speeches, not a minute of the conventions, no commercials (although they never play in New York--we're not a "battleground," I guess), and no Monday-morning talking heads yammering on about the campaigns. I had promised I would get all my information from print media and by listening to the debates on the radio.

I broke that last night (am I a "flip-flopper?).

I had to see Sarah Palin's speech.

And within seconds, I remembered why I made the moratorium in the first place.

Watching the speech made me FEEL AWFUL. I found myself talking at the television, saying things like "that's not true," "that's not fair," "that's really mean."

I'm not naive. Politics is dirty. And Palin's speech was awesome.

But I can't do it.

I want to make my decision based on the candidates' expressed knowledge of the issues, whether the issues they care about are the ones I care about, and my subjective discernment of their character based on their life story and personal commitments.

I don't need televised coverage to get any of that.

At bottom, I value speech with integrity--whether it's dinner table conversation, a Sunday sermon, or a national political convention. And political speeches just lack integrity--they are pre-fab, focus-grouped, and often mean-spirited. It doesn't matter which party I watch... they all make me feel lousy.

Moratorium "on."

But she was sassy, no?