An aside.....

As readers of this blog have probably already discerned, I'm not happy with many of the domestic policies of President Obama's administration, nor am I impressed with the results (if any) of his "gentler, kinder" approach to foreign policy. I would be happy to see the Democrats lose their Congressional majority in the next election, so that they can get over the fantasy that Congress can cram any liberal, big government program they like down our throats.

But that isn't to say that I am delighted with the Republican alternatives on offer (what alternatives?). Sarah Palin just isn't going to cut it as a presidential candidate. Nor was I thrilled with many of the Bush administration's policies. His administration's deficits look better only in comparison to the outsized Obama deficits. His attempt to run two wars without paying for them was as unrealistic as President Obama's fantesy that he can provide health care coverage for 36 million more Americans without it costing the rest of us anything.

There seems little prospect of changing the essential nature of Congress (pandering to special interests in return for campaign contributions, avoiding hard political choices, blaming the other party for all problems), regardless of which party is in power. Perhaps the best that can be hoped for is that neither party controls all the levers of government, so that neither party can cram their ideology down our collective throats.

But that leaves a real worry - we do have a few problems, like the national debt problem, that really do need immediate, courageous, decisive, unpopular government action. How are we going to get the Washington political establishment, irrespective of party, to ever step up to that?