I have some friends in Massachusetts who report that Patrick, who wooed the voters with an Axelrod-orchestrated campaign promising "hope" and "change" {erp}, has hit the ground with a sickening thud. He's been a pretty resounding disappointment, promising a "new politics" and delivering the same old corruption and obvious pandering.

Honestly, I was more offended by his comments about the nobler aspirations - for one because I think there is a lot of nobility in working to better people's lives - and I emphasize "working" because with Obama showing all the signs of being averse to work, the last thing we need is a VP with his head in the, um, clouds all the time, too.

I get that it's important to inspire people, but come on - how much more inspiration do people need to fix energy and health care and foreign policy than sky-high-and rising energy costs, more and more people without health insurance and a war that seems to be on a path toward endless?  Sure, he can wax poetic, have people fainting in the aisles at the sheer brilliance and beauty of his rhetoric ( which I really don't see, myself), but that isn't going to help me pay my health insurance premiums, or fill my tank or help me put food on the table.