"idea of a Liberal Utopia slowly slipping away"

The origins of 'liberal' thinking were to stop the monarchs and oligarchs controlling everything, crushing the little guys - originally the workers. They have been replace by the Corporate Rich. The battle is still the same, the enemy has changed, and the battle will go on for ever.

We now have a middle class set of workers as well....

The Tea Party's very existence proves that the dumbing down of the US has worked.