Politics in America is broken. Can I make a safer statement? If I venture into why I think it’s broken, well now I’ve opened a can of worms guaranteed to draw fire from partisans but politics in America is completely screwed up to the point I can’t contain my feelings so here I sit typing away.

Politics used to be a ‘hobby’, an interest to debate. Sure, I was sincere and passionate but did it really impact my life?

The game’s changed. I have a close, formerly unemployed friend who came within a few months of losing his house. The debate to extend unemployment benefits wasn’t an abstraction, it was the difference between hope and homelessness.