There was a political columnist years ago who wrote wonderful, insightful articles for The Village Voice. If memory serves me correctly, I believe it was Phil Tracy, and I always looked forward to reading what he had to say, not only because I learned something new whenever I did, but also because more often than not he left me smiling, even when the topic was serious.

Oh, I miss Phil, and would greatly enjoy reading more of his columns today. I’m sure he would still be able to leave us laughing even if, at times, the political characters on today’s stage make us want to cry.

In one of his columns back in the ‘70s he wrote about an upcoming election and the not too overwhelmingly wonderful slate of candidates that were running. After dissecting the various shortcomings of each, he went on to offer a solution of sorts.

Why couldn’t we, he opined, include a line, along with the names of the candidates, that simply stated None of the Above. We would still be exercising our right to vote, while at the same time expressing our displeasure with the choices available to us.

I liked the idea then, and like it even more now.

We still have almost eight months to go before election time, and I’ve already had two friends of mine, not overly enamored with the possibilities currently presented, mention the possibility of packing their bags for Canada, pending the outcome. One is 72, the other 28, and I’m sure they are not only in their sentiments.

Myself, I do think that’s a little drastic. Now, Panama, on the other hand…