Ranting may be good for our political soul

I'm still lovin' the Ted Nugent rant. Coarse as it was, I found the passion refreshing. Maybe we need more rants, not less. Off the cuff political speech can be a good thing when consumed by adults. Let's inject some fervor back into campaigning.

Ted's not the only foamer out there (I use the term foamer with great respect ), not the only one to make outlandish statements. And not all outlandishness comes in the form of a rant.

If Hilary Rosen wants to attack Ann Romney's womanly credentials based on a resume, go for it. Conservatives are stupid to chase after Democrats hoping they'll rebuke her or shut her up. I disagree with what Rosen said, but her words are a snapshot into the leftist mindset, an unchecked, unguarded data point. Make a note, react if you want, and move on.

There are widely different political ideologies at work. But the modern process of political communication is so controlled, so manufactured phony, most people have no concept what the differences really are. Maybe even the politicians have lost sight.

I say let the Van Jones, the Ted Nugents, the Hilary Rosens, and anyone else have their say. I have less trouble with them than I do Mitt, who seems a creation built to conceal what's at his core. He just wants to sound nice and be seen as someone who gets along.

I actually have more respect for Obama's approach (though I am 100 percent opposed to his agenda and reelection). Obama and his surrogates told us exactly what he'd do as president. From destroying coal and shutting down power plants,  to a greatly expanded Department of Homeland Security that now acquires drones, arms and ammo on par with the military, it was all on record. But very few people dug past hope and change to ingest the fine print.

You gotta know there's plenty of fire and brimstone and objectionable content tossed around behind closed doors in any political campaign. They're running a war room, they're plotting battles. I'd expect talk about lopping off heads (it's a metaphor!) too. It's only been in our dumbed down recent history that a notion was instilled that politics, by the time it gets to the public, must be boiled down to a well-researched, smooth and creamy pasteurized product.

I think we'd have a more honest process if we had more unfiltered feeds of the raw story. Most of us encounter at least occassional coarse content in our entertainment, sometimes in conversations with friends and family.

Some expections of coarsing in our political-speak might help move our handling of politics back to a more adult level. Sanitized tales of  left and right, or business as usual don't cut it. America needs adults, with adult understandings of politics, to tackle the challenges ahead. If it takes ranting to wake us up, so be it.