Politics.

Our visit to Minnesota began innocently enough.

The drive up the state from the Wisconsin border along the Mississippi at sunset, weaving in and out of towering bluffs, was a peaceful, beautiful welcome.

The next morning began the Rally for the Republic's Real Politics School. I signed us up on a whim, thinking that it would be a fun way to kill time before Ron Paul's Rally on Tuesday.

My goodness.

The class was a long, long, day of obnoxious yakking by some third-string candidate/campaign manager from Virginia that went out of his way to irritate everyone at some point during the day. However, the knowledge he had to impart was enlightening. Frightening. Sobering. Saddening. Soul-killing. Interesting.

I have to question people that want to enter politics or study it for a very long time. It's rotten and vile.

My husband and I sat in a room with close to 600 people from noon to almost ten at night, learning about the intricacies of public opinion, what causes "pain" for a politician, and what kind of chance we have, if any, to change the status quo.

I'm not sure hope can be found in the system as it stands. I'd like to think so, but...damn it. Anyway, here are some pictures from class. By the way, neither vehicle in the photos is ours. Both were in the class parking lot, though.