For my own mental health and sanity, I've culled my political blog reading to one: Radley Balko's The Agitator. Here's why.

The Agitator » Blog Archive » On “Respecting the Office”:

"I can’t remember if it was a Capitol Hill staffer or a former staffer who was then working for the Poker Players Alliance, but a guy came up afterward and complimented me on my testimony. He said he’d never heard someone be so direct with Congress while giving testimony. I responded that I’d never really bought into the sanctimony of Congress—the idea that congressmen by default deserve reverence because they hold a political office.

That apparently went too far. The guy was offended, even though he was on my side on the poker issue. He said something to the effect of, “But you have to respect the office and the institution.”

I don’t see why. Members of Congress sure as hell don’t respect the office or the institution. They regularly pass laws that aren’t authorized by the Constitution. And that’s just the stuff they do proudly. Never mind the corruption, exempting themselves from the laws they pass, pork spending, and . . . the list goes on.

I don’t agree with Sen. Jim Webb on much when it comes to economic policy. But the guy became a hero in my book when he refused to shake then-President George W. Bush’s hand at a White House ceremony a few years ago. Bush had sent Webb’s son off to fight in what Webb thought was a feeble excuse for a war. If anything, a politician who uses his power to achieve ignoble ends ought to be held in higher contempt than the rest of us. He certainly isn’t entitled to genuflection simply by virtue of his position."