This is not a day-to-day politics blog. Even in the midst of the final stretch of a Presidential campaign, that is NOT what this is, as my readers have surely noticed. I will not, for example, be reviewing this week's debate here. Nor is it a personal commentary on J.D. Vance, the VP nominee on the Republican side. But Vance does seem likely to eclipse even Sarah Palin in the annals of unforgotten unforgiven running mate choices. Not long ago a reporter for a local television station, (a Fox station, if it matters) asked Vance the following simple question. It was phrased as two questions, but we may treat it as one, "What makes you smile? what makes you happy?" This is known as a softball. Nobody gets the Pulitzer for them, but they aren't "bogus," either. They are generally an opening for a candidate to get an uncomplicated message out. If someone asks a politician, "what makes you smile?" -- what is a non-JD answer? A normal US politician...