Forget about religion and politics. What about Social Security?

Muslims don't believe in the separation of "church" and state. The ideal Islamic state would include religion precepts as an integral part of it's operations.

But we don't live in an Islamic state. We live in the United States. This country was founded strictly on the basis of separation, and I don't believe it could function any other way. Yet, people try.

The issue of the day is that Mitt Romney is a Mormon. I lived in Massachusetts for a year while Mitt Romney was governor and, while he did leave behind some major accomplishments, I would not vote for him for president. But it has nothing to do with his religion.

Hillary Clinton is a woman. Do you know how many other countries have had women leaders? Yet, in the U.S., the land of freedom, it's an issue.

Barack Obama is black. South Africa, which had such a bad record of racial apartheid that it was internationally boycotted, has had a black president. But in the U.S., the land where all men are created equal, it's a problem.

And Mitt Romney is a Mormon. So what? John Kennedy was a Catholic and people made an issue of that, but he was probably the best president of the twentieth century--and far superior to what we have in the twenty-first.

It's the economy, stupid. And health care. And the wars. And American foreign policy. And the environment. The list goes on.

Why do Americans allow ourselves to be distracted by non-issues? We need to remember that that's how we ended up with the mess we have today.