I heard somewhere the other day

(I really should write down where I hear these gems) that the point of democracy is not, in fact, to put good folks in power, and foster good things for the populi, etc. The point of democracy is, in fact, to provide a means of preventing or at least rectifying, (inevitable) abuses of power by those who get into office.

I think the elections of 2000, 2004, and 2006 are prime examples of this point of view. The 2000 election being of course an example of how a largely democratic system no-way no-how guarantees that good folks will get into office (even if they get the most votes), and the 2006 go-round being the alternate "curbing" phenomenon, where enough folks get sick & tired & pissed off enough to say "OK, CUT THE SHIT!"

OK, it may be indicative of my demographic

but the channels I tend to watch on TV also are the channels that are full of ads about reverse mortgages, and hair restoration, and erectile dysfunction drugs (whatta frickin' euphemism.) So there's one "ED" drug that keeps showing a couple of (attractive) old farts about to get laid when the grandkids show up, yatta yatta, gotta wait, etc. And - here's what puzzles me - after the grandkids and their annoying parents leave, the horny old farts, instead of getting nekkid and getting it on, get in the car, and drive up the coast or into the mountains or wherever, and ride bikes, etc. and - at the end of the commercial - are lying in side-by-side clawfoot cast iron bathtubs gawking off at the sun setting over the ocean. Forgetting the fact that for a large number of us the sun does not SET over the ocean, I have to wonder exactly how horny these old farts were in the first place? Is it just me? Or are these commercials somehow symbolic of something I'm too young (hah!!!) to get yet?