Hi RxQueen875, Hmm. I guess it's possible I'm having a mixed episode. Actually, not today, at least not at this moment. But if that's what it is, (1) How do I know? (2) What do I do about it? So many of people's responses to this thread really move me. Stuck1nHead's conclusions, after spending 4 years studying criminal justice and then discovering that it's the people at the top who are the real criminals, is what I see, too. In the city where I live, we have police chiefs and sheriffs, and area small town mayors, city and county councilors -- etc -- who get investigated for fraud, sexual harassment, corruption -- Some of them lose their jobs; some are demoted but keep their employment; some are re-elected despite having good opponents. There's a big race on right now between a corrupt official and a good opponent. He has several hundred thousand in his war chest; she has $6,000. At the state level we're trying to tax the giant out of state corporations, since most of them pay Zero state taxes. One of them at least has polluted our area, and STILL does not pay state taxes! These bandits' ads are trying to convince the voters that small businesses will be damaged (not true) and that the rest of us will end up paying for the tax (not true in other states, so not true here, either.) And all this is local!!!! Can't even contemplate the Federal level! So what do we think about? "All politics is corrupt" and just ACCEPT that? I think part of my hate-mind is that these things "SHOULD NOT" be happening. That's my Cognitive Dissonance, see. They should not be, but they are. My basic belief -- should not -- conflicts with the fact that they ARE happening, and I CAN'T ACCEPT whatever the reality is because of the extreme pain of cognitive dissonance. Does that make sense? That's why I keep trying to figure out what reality is, that I must JUST ACCEPT. Having read some US History, and also other history, I'm now thinking that maybe it's getting worse for me because at my age and interest level in justice, I've learned too much reality for my own good.