Thanks for the heads up, Poppa.

pdq, it is neither rude, nor mean spirited to put the blame where it belongs. All one has to do to figure it out is to get away from the cliche' driven politics that have replaced the real discussion of issues and solutions that characterized American politics (at least more than does now) back when I first started working in politics. And it is easy to see who the author of the politics of division were. One need only go back to the Reagan/Gingrich/Republican Revolution times. This is not to excuse the Dems for their part of creating the problem. But the tactics started there with the coining of terms like "tax and spend liberals", and the painting of Dems and Liberals as unpatriotic and fiscally irresponsible, as opposed to two sides that respected each others patriotism and disagreed on the method. The attitude spawned by these people, and perfected to a dangerous degree by the Rove/Swift Boat Veterans bunch has led us to a time of unprecedented partisanship and cliche' ridden debate of issues. The desired effect of getting folks to vote against their own economic self interests can be easily seen. One need only look at the last 8 years, and particularly at 2 factors from that time. The first would be the federal deficit, and the second would be the difference in the gap between the richest and the poorest to see it. One can look at the state of the family farms as opposed to the corporate farms and see more. The facts are that while the corporate spin machine talks about being patriotic, and doing what is good for average folks, using code terms like "good for the country", what they are really about is what is good for their bottom line, regardless as to whether or not it is "good for the country". The American worker is still the most productive in the world, and among the best trained. They work long hours and slip further and further behind, while American CEO's enjoy obscene compensation and "golden parachutes". The old American ideal of "Anyone that wants to work hard can make it here" is a bullshit cliche' that The Right either naively believes or is lying about to keep the masses happy. Tell the average single working Mom that all she has to do is work hard and she will make it. She is doing so every goddamned day just to keep her head above water. Tell that to the folks that are working two jobs just to keep the mortgage paid, and still don't have health insurance. It's like our buddy Utah said. "Someone will tell you that you are America's greatest natural resource. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN WHAT THEY DO TO NATURAL RESOURCES IN THIS COUNTRY? EVER SEEN A STRIP MINE OR A CLEAR CUT FOREST?"

And as to all this blind adoration for Palin, I will say this. See you in November. It is way to early to anoint this ticket. There are 50+ days left. And she will have to answer for her views at some point. Once she does, the gloss comes off. And if they keep hiding her, letting her speak but not answer questions, the result will be the same. Then we get back to the discussion about McCain vs. Obama, which they really don't want. Enjoy the honeymoon.

Mick