The perplexing season

Tonight's workout accompaniment: The Democratic National Convention

A year and three months ago, I was having dinner with a friend and feeling extremely apolitical by comparison.

Fifteen months later, I'm listening to nominating conventions on my personal radio at the gym.

In a single week, I've simultaneously defended President George W. Bush against claims that he's a Nazi, and filmmaker Michael Moore against claims that he thinks George W. Bush is a Nazi.

In the same weekend I sat across the kitchen counter from my grandpa and tried to reconcile his support of a two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with his insistence that Islam promotes violence. (Islam doesn't promote violence any more than any other major world religion.)

In the last six months I've read -- for fun -- Madeline Albright's autobiography.

What happened? Have I changed? Or has my country?

I'd like to think that my (ahem) "useless" religious studies degree is beginning to show its worth.

The Dems, for example, just created a staff position relating to "religious outreach."

Perhaps my next job is in politics …