By Mike Cox In the early 1920s the South was suffering from an inferiority complex. The Civil War and subsequent Reconstruction decimated the area economically and established southern men as substandard by their northern counterparts. They were the minority class; considered physically and emotionally inferior to men in other parts of the Land of the Free.

Then southern college football teams began to defeat West Coast, Ivy League, and military schools, and a sense of pride was established. Suddenly, southerners had a rallying point. This enthusiasm for the sport intensified and spread to the rest of the nation. Today, college football mania is a coast to coast obsession.

If you are part of the Michigan/Ohio State, Clemson/South Carolina, or Texas/Oklahoma rivalry, you know what this means. If your rival's star defensive back gets arrested, it is because they recruit thugs and criminals on a regular basis. If it happens at your school, the police are being unreasonable over a minor case of boys being boys.

If your team hangs 50 points on the opposition; well, you can't expect your team to lie down. If the rival coach does it, he is a classless jerk. Most loyal fans feel there is a genetic defect in anyone who even considers playing for their main rival. We don't want people like that.

About 15 years ago Americans began to treat politics like a sports rivalry. Reasonable folks with differing opinions started considering a person with a different idea some mind of mutant incapable of sensible thought. Simultaneously, the fervor associated with each election increased. There was suddenly a sense of catastrophe associated with losing to the other side.

Historically, neither party has proven capable of rescuing the country from the other or screwing things up so bad we had to call England to take us back. Yet, we act as if the fate of civilization is at stake with each election.

Both political parties have convinced us we need to fight each other rather than focus on them as they design legislation that benefits powerful corporations and rich backers. We get stuck on single issue politics while the country has become a welfare state for the extremely wealthy.

The people we listen to are loud mouthed clowns whose job is to deliver listeners to advertisers in any way possible. They do a fine job of it. When voters start to think these comedic rants are sound political strategy we all lose our focus.

Perspective elected officials tell us they will change things in Washington. But nothing gets any better. The system is entrenched, and no one seems interested in making it different. The obvious solutions never get discussed, much less addressed.

Most politicians are like small time pro wrestlers. They arrive in town together, split up and denounce one another while people are watching, and then leave together as buddies, taking their show to another place. Both groups get a lot of mileage from fake conflict.

The problem isn't the politicians. They are just adapting to a new environment. The problem is us. We are the ones fighting among ourselves and electing ineffective morons. We need to do a better job.