I think the problem -- exemplified by Rush Limbaugh's remark -- is that the political systems have become so filled with corrupt and evangelical (not necessarily in the Christian sense) people that someone who is fundamentally decent -- and one of the glories of Obama is that, as far as I can tell, he is someone thoughtful and decent -- is prey to being rolled over and chewed up and spat out.   It doesn't seem to me that merely suggesting that we need to be bipartisan is enough to fight this. It is actually going to take some ruthlessness to make do. I wonder if he has it in him: to both be decent and ruthless in support of what he wants to do. It is a hard road to walk carefully down.

yours,

Peter T.