Sitting here wondering if the political season will ever end, I noticed a new stack of sticky notes that serve as my memory has risen like the Leaning Tower of Paper. Time to cull ’em out:

I scatter grains of salt when candidates say they’re running for office because “we need to take government out of the hands of politicians and put it in the hands of the people.”

It’s a bit disingenuous when a candidate proposes taking government out of the hands of politicians and giving it to “the people.” See, upon election, the candidate becomes part of the government. I’ve yet to see anyone get elected and then turn around and give their senate seat to Mr. or Mrs. Joe Blow.

I also view candidates who tout giving government to “the people” with a jaundiced eye, because that notion is contrary to historical reality. Take a gander at the Forefathers who created our system, and how many were just “common folk?” Most of the men who created our form of government and put it into action in the three branches were doctors, lawyers, teachers, intellectuals, successful businessmen, high-ranking military men and members of the “landed gentry.”

“Common folk” may serve us at local levels of government. But for the most part, state and national leadership has always been in the hands of the “uncommon folks.”

n Personally, I’m sorta thankful “common folks” don’t run the political show, especially if George Carlin was right. Said the late great comedian: “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”

n Was asked the other day how I feel about 38-year-old quarterback Brett Farve’s retirement-unretirement-trade to the Jets. My response, in seven words: Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath and Emmitt Smith. Unable to give up the game, those aging superstars also left teams they’d played for all their careers. In one-season stints with lesser teams, and with their skills eroding, they became sad caricatures of their former selves.

Father Time won out in the end.

n Speaking of time: With Mick Jagger turning 65 last week, Baby Boomers are slapped again by a great truth our elders tried to pass on — the older you get, the faster time flies by.

n Thanks to my sons’ acumen at downloading, I’ve spent the summer being reminded that Hot Buttered Soul is a magnificent, seminal soul and funk album. Sad irony, though: On Sunday, Isaac Hayes, who recorded that masterpiece, was found dead at age 65.

n “We don’t beat the reaper by living longer; we beat the reaper by living well and living fully.” So said Professor Randy Pausch, author of the bestseller The Last Lecture, who died on July 25.

n As the new pro hoops team in OKC searches for a team nickname, the NBA has let it be known it doesn’t like Lightning as a moniker — seems lightning has killed people. If avoiding names that can be associated with death is the standard, I guess colors are the only suitably passive names for athletic teams.

But even colors are problematic, because you have to be careful about offending ethnic groups and political ideologies.

n Whether we want to accept it or not, the public shoulders its share of the blame for the gas crunch and soaring prices. In our desire for convenience and unfettered mobility, we got careless and carefree in using a substance that is — and has always been — finite.

n Did you read about the deep sea angler named Brad Harris, who spent 8-1/2 hours before winning a tug-of-war with a 904 pound blue marlin? Yeah, I had the same thought: Where and when did this guy go to the john?

n There’s a thin line between colorful, eccentric characters and people you hope won’t reproduce, and both species can be found after midnight in the aisles of all-night department stores.

n So, being called a “liberal” is no longer an immediate kiss of death for a presidential hopeful, but getting pegged a “celebrity” is now akin to an endorsement from Beelzebub? Geez, we’re not getting too superficial about all this mud flingin’ — are we?

n Fast and young are cool, but slow and old are inevitable.

n Something else from George Carlin: “Women like silent men, they think they’re listening.”