My disgust level with politicians just went up a notch, if that is even possible.

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) was on The Daily Show and his interview started off with a perfectly reasonable discussion about the debt ceiling and his role as a member of the Bowles Simpson group and later the Gang of Six. Sen. Durbin seemed reasonable, articulate and honest and did not do much finger-pointing...the finger-pointing he did engage in was sort of at himself.

But then, almost out of the blue, Sen. Durbin says he would "point the finger at some of my Republican colleagues here," because "many of them have said they like war, they like waging war, they like the notion of staying in war, they think we should spend a lot of money in war."

Good grief. How can we make progress on important issues like debt and deficit reduction and a host of other pressing problems, including war, when someone in power is calling the other side warmongers? Can't Sen. Durbin see that he just made it worse? These people are often like children when confronted with their own absurdity (e.g., shrieking about how the other side is the root cause of the partisan bickering and polarized atmosphere), they often say "well, the other side started it" or "the other side said something worse about me." Next they will be saying, "The Senator from Arkansas looked at me funny!"

What happened to being the bigger person, turning the other cheek? Even Jon Stewart, openly a liberal, was taken aback by Sen. Durbin's remarks. Ultimately, Stewart tried to ease Sen. Durbin down by saying, "you meant it (the warmonger comment) metaphorically, right?"

**Speaking of The Daily Show, they recently did an excellent piece on a couple in Florida who was being foreclosed on by Bank of America. Problem: The couple owned their house free and clear and had the papers to prove it. It's a fantastic story of David taking on Goliath and winning. As much as I am a fan TDS, I think John Oliver's segment on this story devolved a bit in the second half of the piece; I would recommend watching the first couple minutes only...hilarious and uplifting. Check it out.