I know real people, whose names I could tell you, people I know who have said 'I've stopped buying the New York Times.' Why? Because their editorial position has filtered, has leached into the news pages.

There's a kind of journalistic narcissism that New York-based journalists are guilty of.

Don't pretend to be a journalist if you're not a journalist.

You don't smear somebody as a racist when there is obviously nothing there.

We need to accept the seemingly obvious fact that a toxic environment can make people sick and that no amount of medical intervention can protect us. The health care community must become a powerful political lobby for environmental policy and legislation.

Tea Party attendees and health care town-hall protesters share the common belief that the extravagant spending of President Obama and the Democratic Party - absent any checks and balances - will eventually lead more people into government dependency, higher taxes, and, perhaps, our country's financial ruin.

I ask you: turn a deaf ear to the special interests. Let politics stand down for a while. don't waste anytime thinking about future elections until we've done our jobs here.

I am not a politics wonk. I like the idea of my writing reflecting more about who I am or other people.