After wandering in here (I didn't read the previous threads), the first thing I noticed was how polarized these discussions appear--one either is or isn't, was or wasn't. Too bad the force with which a person hits the keys on the keyboard can't register somehow, as I think that would provide a wider range of gray.

The second thing I wondered, because I always look for this, is whether or not this discussion is male-dominant for a particular reason (if it is, in fact, male-dominant)--the keys are just as bad at registering gender as they are at showing emotion.

The third thing I wondered is how each of us arrives at our beliefs. Mine (decidedly more left than liberal)are a result of New England working class upbringing, biracial family as an adult, homelessness, 2 graduate degrees, huge loans, 40 years of combining activism, employment, and the arts, and being gay. Personal context tends to sculpt one a bit.

Lastly, the USA has many problems, particularly with housing, health care, the criminal justice system, and education. These are not simple, just pull-yourself-up-by-your bootstraps problems, if they ever were, but deep-seated and complex issues that require all the combined efforts of both the full Senate and the House, as well as local governments and citizens. It is completely irrelevant to throw rhetoric at a problem that is rooted in historical, cultural, sociological ways of behaving--it means absolutely nothing, will change nothing. If the US government cannot figure out how to work together to effectively and meaningfully address these problems (vs spend time blaming one side or the other, posturing, or serving corporate interests or the interests of elites only), these problems will simply worsen and the ship will, no doubt about it, sink. Indeed, I believe I feel a listing to the right...

blt