I’ve rarely agreed with Rep. James Sensenbrenner; I was even upset when he became my congressman through redistricting.

But through his encounters with the Bush White House, I’m gaining some respect for the man. And my respect is harder to earn than my agreement. He voted against his party and his president when he refused to vote for a disaster aid bill because it lacked controls and accountability. And here we are, half a year down the timestream from then, and we’re finding out that the disaster aid money was, indeed, misappropriated, as much as $1.4 Billion (yes, that’s a not million but billion) didn’t go for what it was supposed to. And his insistence on calling a spade a spade (“path to citizenship”? = amnesty) in the illegal immigrant debate is refreshing in the world of spin that passes for political journalism.

I may not agree with you any more frequently, sir, but the next time we’re in the same watering hole, the first round’s on me.

Much has been made of Ann Coulter’s lastest screed. People have e-mailed some of the local talking heads insisting they denounce her. Charlie Sykes bluntly informs us it “isn’t his job”? to do that. Jessica McBride decides to be a bit more honest, and admit that she’s done the same thing to liberal writers, so puts forward an attempt, but just as it starts to sound sincere, she tosses in the inevitable “yeah, but the liberals do it, too.”

I confess I usually don’t have any patience for her kind of spin, but in this case she gets the link because she proves my gran to be correct. One of the things my gran always told me was “Even a stopped watch is right—twice a day!”

And that’s why you’ll read neither Repulican/Conservative nor Democratic/Liberal propaganda here. Just look. You have Ann Coulter (she’s got a real brain inside that head, one has wonder why she uses it so seldom, but instead prefers name-calling to conversation) and others like her on the right (She’s the most egregious, so she gets primacy.) Those who dare to disagree with them cannot be sincere; they are eeeeeeviilllllll and must be ridiculed and otherwise made to shut up.

And on the left you have Maureen Dowd and Kos, two people whose track record for the truth is so stellar that if they told me the sun was shining I’d come to the door to check with an umbrella in my hand.

Mrs. McBride is, in fact, correct. The front-row icons from the Left do, in fact, misbehave. So badly that I’m ashamed more often than not to be seen in their company. But the similar icons of the Right aren’t any better. The political scene in this country is so bad that I’m almost afraid to express an opinion for fear I’ll end up agreeing with one of the repulsive icons on one side or the other.

So I have this to say to both sides: Go ahead and pollute the air with your ramblings; it’s a free country. And though I signed my name on the dotted line and suited up for four years (USAF) I’m not going to suggest you thank me for it, because I certainly didn’t do it for you. In fact, if James Madison could see us now, I wonder if he’d revise the wording of the First Amendment, in your honor. But part of the price of Freedom is to have to have your polemics flying about our head, verbal “drive-bys” while the rest of us try to actually do something.

But if the prospects are to fall in line behind either group, I’ll pass. You’re both disgusting. Go lead your parades. And let me know when you’re done, so the rest of us can step gingerly over the sound bites littering the landscape and try to get something done.