In case you haven't noticed it, a smog of electioneering has crept in across the nation, which means that, between now and November, 2012, we, the sheeple, will be forced to view everything political through a scrim curtain of half-truths and whole lies, inside a blizzard of rhetoric being spun like cotton candy.

That is to say, it is once again bullscat season in the vast jungles of speechifying, radioranting, boobtubery, snail-mailing, junk-mailing, robophoning, bumperstickery, buttonholing, spamming, sneering, jeering, sloganeering, punditry, backbiting, butt-kissing, pandering, slandering, boring, goring and, metaphorically at least, whoring.

Aside: I use that last analogy with some hesitation, since comparing it with contemporary American politics casts a demeaning light on the oldest and one of the more popular of human professions, although it is noteworthy that many of the methods and motivations of both pursuits are strikingly similar.

Sadly, but with a few exceptions, any politician worthy of the name will now shed all but a thin veneer of integrity in order to get elected, stay in office, or ride the bandwagons of either the "in" people or the wannabe "outs."

Shoving aside what is good for the republic and the public at large, they will focus their fervor on pointing with pride to the candidates with whom they agree and pointing with scorn at all others who have differing views.

This fingering game is almost as old as recorded history, dating back to when an apple fancier in paradise put the blame on his dame, who, in turn, ratted out a snake in the grass (it, perhaps, being the earliest known ancestor of the modern political lemming).

The human participants in that biblical soap opera chose to ignore the fact that when their index fingers were pointed elsewhere, three others were directed back at themselves.

Similarly, us-all of the present electorate - now almost unanimous in contempt for our elected reprehensibles - bear a hefty share of responsibility for our government being a malodorous mess.

Who, prithee, elected these clowns and clownettes and allows them to remain in power? One cesspituation among many in our civic life is the indisputable fact that America is living hell-and-gone beyond its means and perpetuating government spending sprees that are clearly unsustainable.

However, if I momentarily represented myself as a typical citizen, I might strongly favor cutting down the total outlay of public, but would oppose any grubby hands on my unfunded benefits, or my favorite pork barrel project, such as, perhaps, my passionate defense of a program to protect the habitat of the endangered Key Largo Wood Rat.

Being more specific, and cutting close to many bones, consider the fact that, if present trends continue, each working person in America will eventually be responsible for paying the retirement benefits of a gaggle of inactive geezers. (Do the math!)

That is because what was designed as a self-sustaining annuity is now a pile of IOUs signed by our elected reprehensibles, the result of which is that Social Security is a "pay as they grow old" welfare program, backed by a phantom "fund" that makes Mother Hubbard's cupboard look like the Comstock Lode of Gold Rush fame.

Who, though, among us is willing to convert SocSec to a means-tested program, paying benefits only to those in need? And who will eschew the pork-barrel projects which favor their own bailiwicks, monuments, movements, giveaways, tax breaks, loopholes, potholes and other political piñatas?

It is difficult to find anyone who is not in favor of changes for the better, 'slong as the financing finger is pointed elsewhere.

Expecting the beneficiaries of this irresponsible largesse to give it up is no more realistic than asking who farted in a crowded elevator.

What is critically needed now is an electorate, including you-all and me-all, which points its collective finger at each problem facing the nation, remaining conscious of the other fingers pointing back at itself.

We are also sorely in need of leaders with not only the vision to identify those problems - but also the courage to tell us exactly what our individual cost will be for the solutions - ever aware that doing so may cost them their jobs.

Whores only tell their clients what the clients want to hear, and their clients, in turn, get exactly what they pay for.

Think about that as the heat of campaign rhetoric increases and the light of reason grows progressively dimmer.

Then direct your response to the appropriate governmental brothel.