Years ago, I read somewhere jazz great Miles Davis was the king of silence. The pretty notes from his trumpet were just as important as the hush that separated them. Quiet, the only thing all cranky librarians love, is in short supply during a political campaign. Everybody is yapping, from the politicians who want our votes, the holier than thou writers who think we are the pulse of democracy, to voters convinced a pol holding a town hall meeting can shine a little light in their darkness.

Take this for example. John McCain is surging in the polls, thinking upset, but in New Hampshire he gets laid out by a question from a gentleman who suffered a serious brain injury 20 years ago and wants to end his life.

“I’m taking up valuable space and worthy subsidies to keep me alive. So why don’t I just pass it off to someone else and just exterminate my life?”

How is McCain supposed to respond to that? Nothing against the senator but that question is beyond his purview.On the campaign trail the only language McCain, or any other pol, uses paints in broad strokes and make us feel as if water will taste great if only we give them our vote. Politicians are not our guardian angels coming to save us like Clarence did for George Bailey (happy holidays everyone!).

Public policy and politicians are important. We need good men and women working the levers of state. Competent government can make a difference (the folk in New Orleans needed local, state, and federal government to work after Katrina blew pass); however, those personal concerns, the ones that keep us up at night, can only be dealt with quiet. Not the shaved words of a pol who just wants our votes so he/she can move on.