This topic got me to thinking: I went to live outside the US when I was 6 years old, just as Obama did. I cannot imagine how anyone that age is supposed to decide that he or she has already figured out his or her upbringing. Typically, you wind up eating what is culturally normal where you live. People all over the world, including in the US, eat animals and parts of animals that are kinda gross to many.

Here's my problem: I can be disturbed at stories of candidates' behaviors when they were younger but wonder just how much emphasis to put on that same person 40 or 50 years later. Did they ever do it again? Do they exhibit an adult pattern of lying or cruelty or laziness or indifference? Because if they don't, maybe they have grown up.

You know, George Bush was an indifferent student in college, had a drinking problem until he was 40, and seemed to skate through life being bailed out by his family or wealthy friends. And yet, he sobered up, got more religious, and became governor of Texas. And good for him!

I wouldn't strap a dog onto a car, either, but I'm actually a little more concerned about whether these men are more beholden to special money interests or are itching for even more war. I don't have to love them; I have to decide whether they'll do a decent job trying to run the country. Sometimes those people are not folks I'd want to have coffee with.