It appears to be getting rather gnarly out there on the campaign trail.

You know -- people who make empty promises accusing others of speaking words with no substance. Candidates taking words from others and claiming them as their own.

Newspaper articles about illicit romances between lobbyists and candidates. Rumors of -- God forbid -- legislators giving preferential treatment to the causes of some lovely blonde lobbyists with whom they may have been spending way too much personal time.

You know -- the soap opera stuff that is the very fiber that makes up the political process here in America.

A Kansas City-based sports writer with whom I rarely agree recently wrote a few lines that I am inclined to share. Disclaimer: Please note -- I am not taking credit for these words. They are the words of another, much more famous writer than myself.

He said, and I quote, "I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat, liberal or conservative. I abhor politics because of its inherent untruthfulness. I find it almost impossible to participate in a process that is directly opposed to the truth."

I agree with the majority of what the writer said in the above quote.

I, too, am neither a card-carrying Republican or Democrat. I have always -- always -- tried to cast my vote for the candidate I felt was most worthy of it, not for someone of a particular party. I, too, abhor what has become of the political process in America. It is not just a flawed system, it is broken altogether. And not just during the firestorm that has become the presidential election cycle.

The mainstream media decides who they are going to follow and choose who they will push to the forefront of any given race. More attention is given to who spends the most money then to the issues espoused by each candidate.

In the end, the voters get to choose between a couple of candidates who have little or nothing in common with the average citizen.

Notice that in the quote -- which is not mine and for which I do not claim authorship (disclaimer two) -- the writer said he finds it "almost impossible to participate in a process that is directly opposed to the truth." Note the word "almost."

I, too, find it hard to participate in this thing we call the election process. But I will continue to vote. I will continue to encourage others to vote. And I will continue to speak my mind in hopes that someday the process will get fixed; that someday a person's electibility won't depend on how many millions of dollars they have or how many contacts they have with large corporations.

We must never give up hope.