Well, hello there. My, it's been a long, long time.

The obvious question – particularly to those who only know me through this blog, and I imagine that may be one or two of you – is where the hell have I been?

Just to give you a recap, since the date of my last post, I've been in the hospital, gotten out of the hospital, quit smoking, been diagnosed with diabetes, started a diet, added three medicines to my daily routine, gotten a new computer, started an additional blog, stepped up my freelance writing, shaved my goatee and grown a full beard.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get back to the business of the blog: stream-of-consciousness ramblings presented in what I hope is a palatable style.

As the presidential campaign starts to ramp up in earnest, I must ask why the news networks seem so anxious for it to be over. In the days leading up to the start of primary season, the theme of Hillary Clinton's candidacy throughout the media was inevitability. Then came Iowa, and the Clinton bandwagon was hastily papered over with the beaming junior senator from Illinois who was presented breathlessly to America as the second coming of RFK and MLK all rolled up in one. Suddenly, Hillary was one loss away from being eliminated from the race altogether.

Then came New Hampshire.

Now, the networks are grudgingly admitting nothing is decided, though one almost gets the sense they're desperate to paint this as a tipping point for a return to dominance for the Clinton campaign. I just don't understand why there's such a reluctance to embrace a wide-open free-for-all. And for those who counter the media is happy to tout the unpredictability of the Republican race: that doesn't count, seeing as how the GOP is the National Football Conference of the political world right now. (No one knows who'll win, but it doesn't matter, as they seemingly don't have a chance in November.)

One more thing on political coverage, and then I'll let us all catch our collective breath. I know it would eliminate half the TV news content, but could we please ban interviews with campaign representatives and party officials? We know what they're going to say! These intersnooze ... err ... interviews just ends up being boring, free commercials.