It's a classic setup to a joke. Some doofus walks up to you at a party, or at work, or taps you on the shoulder while you're waiting in line at the bank. The doofus says, "Two guys walk into a bar..."

 It's not funny. It doesn't pretend to be profound, or insightful, or even interesting. It's just a setup. A starting point. Without it there's no joke. But without the punchline, there's no point to the setup. 

They are two sides to the same coin. One side is not much more than window dressing. It's the other side were the real value is found - if there is in fact any value to be had. 

Now, imagine you were to accept that concept, but transposed it from the world of the comic to the world of politics.

 A candidate stands up in front of a crowd and says, "When I'm elected I'm going to ...."

 Can they do what they're promising to do? More often than not, they can't. Whether it's the local sheriff or the president, most offices come with staggering bureacracy, a regimented method of making any changes, and a shockingly time intensive process for initiating and implementing anything that isn't status quo.

I'll take the position that it would be more encouraging if we heard candidates get up on the stump and say, "Let me tell you what I believe in." Because politics is largely about philosophy being imposed over the long haul, not a specific event or initiative that requires immediate action.  

Perhaps we could be more civil with each other, if that were the case. Perhaps we would find better candidates, more genuine men and women who are motivated more by a desire to serve than a desire to be powerful. 

I'm thinking that a dose of true leadership would be helpful right about now, and that goes for all people, everywhere. Given that simple change, I think it's just possible we'd have fewer doofuses in office, and more participation at the polls.

But if you don't like that line of thinking, there are these two guys who walked into a bar...