L. KING: You seem to look back, and look at both of these parties with askance look. VENTURA: To me, Larry -- and I have said it before, and I know I'll get a laugh out of this. But I wish they would pass a law where all Democrats and Republicans had to wear Nascar racing suits, because if you look at the Nascar drivers, it tells who their sponsors are. And if they do that, we could then become informed voters, because we would know who owns them.

John McCain's campaign has mocked Barack Obama's assertion that keeping tires inflated saves gasoline by suggesting he's out of touch. But it's McCain, the one who's married to $100 million and probably hasn't done his own car maintenance in 30 years, who's clueless here. No less an authority than NASCAR extols the energy-saving virtues of proper inflation on its website.

Along similar lines today, it's compelling to see how NASCAR auto racing has risen to the level of a mania in early 21st century America, as the nation has reached its absolute zenith of automobile use. Even as the world approached the all-time global oil production peak -- with its ominous portents for social relations in this country -- Americans rallied obliviously to the weekend proving grounds of the stock-car gods.

NASCAR fans are rabid, but are they actually contagious? Getting a hepatitis shot is standard procedure for travelers to parts of Africa and Asia, but some congressional aides were advised to get immunized before going to Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord and the racetrack in Talladega, Ala. Note: Well, that's it! The next thing is the baseball, basketball and football games. Do elitists frequent those games to? If not, then we won't have anything to worry about.