Sorry to be serious for a moment.

Now that both parties have had their conventions, their slick, over-produced, self-aggrandizing, massive circle jerks, here’s something to think about.

If back in 1776 Milton Bradley made a board game called The United States of America, the rules and game play today would seem totally foreign to them. Along the 236 years that we’ve been playing, people have snuck in changes and alterations to the original rules, added their own and completely ignored others.

Take Monopoly, for example. Although the rules are clearly printed in the included booklet, over time they have become perverted, amended and otherwise forgotten. Where the Free Parking space once meant just that, free parking, now people use it as a windfall of gathered taxes and fees. This serves the purpose of keeping the impoverished players in the game longer, not giving them a chance to win, just allowing them enough breathing room until the next rent payment is due. In doing so, the rich players funnel all the cash to their pile and force the game’s own coffers into insolvency. They remedy this by simply ordering up more money to keep the game going longer.

The rules for the game still exist. We know where the rules are located. It is up to the players to restart the game and play by the rules.

Is this about Democrats or Republicans? If you think this is about either, you really don’t see who you’ve been playing against the whole time. This week, the United States of America hit 16 trillion dollars in debt. Follow the money to see who your real opponent is.

But hurry, it’s your turn.