Amidst all the rallies, ads, posts and posturing, I call for a timeout. We must face the realities of contemporary American politics. Here’s a stab at some.

Campaigns are too long. Tiresome repetition results and numbs us to serious discussion. Far too much money invades our campaigns. Let’s agree that Citizens United was an egregious decision that has enabled wealth to overwhelm democracy.

The rhetoric and antics that have come to define some of our politics have debased them to an unrecognizable degree. Once a candidate mocks someone’s disability, or calls for the physical assault of others, we know we are in for it. Americans used to be good winners and losers – yes, one doesn’t win all the time. Grace in coming up short was no sin, but, in fact, the sign of maturity and mutual respect.

The Constitution, however flawed, was the bedrock of our unity. It bound us to the rule of law as our north star. Open, flagrant denunciation of it diminishes the ties that bind us together.

The pursuit of power for self-aggrandizing purposes – personal wealth, dominance and revenge – transforms the meaning of public service to private design.

For a nation of immigrants, it is the height of hypocrisy to demonize them. One need look only to one’s ancestors to appreciate the melting pot for which America stood. To sow division and discord based upon religion, race, culture, gender or other identity is to reject our common “pursuit of happiness.”

To politicize the highest judicial body in the land, and consign our Supreme Court justices to political hackery is to erode fealty to justice in our lives. To empower the government to invade our bedrooms is a home invasion of devastating consequence. It puts a lie to those who bemoan socialism and Big Brother.

To sanction the invasion of a free, democratic nation by a despot, and befriend him as an ally, is to betray all that American leadership once represented, and to betray the common values of Republicans and Democrats alike.

And, finally, to those in public office who actively support or tolerate the vitriol, indecency, division and crudeness in any candidacy, remember your children are watching. Is this your legacy to them?

We have the vote. Let us use it with the wisdom and judgment this moment demands.