I respond to my own words

Well, first of all, let me apologize for going off on y'all like that yesterday.
Everything I said was true, I think, but the tone..., well, I was tired, cranky, maybe coming down with something. I'm having a bad week.

To start with, Samuel Alito was confirmed to the Supreme Court by a margin of 58 to 42, with only 4 Democrats on his side (to put this in perspective, Clarence Thomas, one of the worst Justices in decades, passed 52-48 with 11 Democrats, in a Democratic-controlled Senate). Sure, he may turn out to be just fine, and we can all hope for that. But personally, I'm just happy that Presidential term-limits are covered by the 22nd amendment, and not a law passed by Congress.
Stay tuned for true judicial activism.

As for the State of the Union speech by our fearless leader... sigh.
I'm just to tired to deal with Dubya today. He wearies me. Republicans weary me, Conservatives weary me. Americans, such as my parents, incapable of seeing the damage being done to this country by them weary me.

Here's one thing I will say. Republican intransigence, their unwillingness to compromise, their willingness to destroy checks in the system to make sure the minority retains a voice - these things will someday come home to bite them on the ass (barring some sort of Theocratic coup d'etat, of course).
I've read a lot of people slamming the Democrats for not standing up to the Republicans enough, for not philibustering, for not going to whatever extreme is required to block the Path of the Conservative Steamroller. I've said some things against them myself. But they're not so much incompetent as out of their league.
The Republicans have changed the rules. No longer is Washington (and statehouses around the country) engaging in Politics. Politics involves compromise, give and take, settling. What the Mouthpieces of the Right Wing call wishy-washy is what used to be called Statesmanship.
Remember Statesmanship? You've got a list, They've got a list. Both sides get together and try to work out a way for everyone to get as much as they can, so that everyone is happy, and things dont degenerate down into conflict.
Not wishy-washy. Compromising. That's supposed to be the Political Process.
The Conservative Movement has changed all that, though. They have reinstituted the principle of Winner Take All. A majority, any majority, means that the winners get everything. No bones will be thrown to dogs, no pennies for the poor. Our Way or the Highway.
I think the Democrats, being basically at heart people who care about the well-being of the country as a whole, are resisting this idea, because they know that it is a way of life under which a significant chunk of the country can only suffer, and that is Bad For the Country.
This is why they keep loosing so badly. They are peaceful Christians in the Political Colusseum that the Republicans have created, and the Conservative gladiator they are facing isnt concerned about anything but killing his opponent, and going back to the tent and wallowing hin his glory and prize-winnings. To the Victor Go the Spoils.
Wait. No, much as I like this analogy, it's not quite right. Because the Republicans arent interested in just victory and the prize. They want more. They want domination. They want whatever the fight is about, and everything else, too. It's not enough for Republicans to control their own Destiny (i.e., have Liberty), they must control the "liberty" of others, also. They want Prayer in School (their prayers), and so others must have it too. They dont want Gay Marriage, therefore no one else must have Gay Marriage.
Spoils? More like Spoiled. Republicans act like teenagers faced with chores. They dont want to do it, they're not gonna do it. And if they have do it, they'll do a crappy-ass job of it so you dont ever ask them to do it again. Disagree? Look at the Drug Program. Look at the Katrina Relief program.
How about taxes? Tell a teenager, if they're gonna live in this house, they're gonna help with the chores. Tell a Republican, if you're gonna live in this country, you're gonna pay taxes to help with the chores, at which point they'll start talking about property and rights and how it's their country (like they built it all by themselves).

Okay, enough rambling. My conclussion: America is a country being run by teenagers with swords. An entire generation of people who were raised by hippies and beatniks, who reacted by becoming that which their parents hated, and who now run the country without regard to the feelings or needs of anyone else.
But they've forgotten one thing.
Someday they'll be old, and their hold on power will be slipping. And their children, who will also have deliberately become that which their parents hate, will gain power. And they will be operating under the rules being established now, using the political ethics being "taught" by example now.
And while it might be fun to watch that battlefield from the comfort of Canada or someplace, I'm not looking forward to being here when it happens. Dont be surprised if, within a generation, not many other people are either.

But guess what. It'll be no more than we deserve. Democracy is not a priviledge, it is a responsibility. And everything being done in Our Government today is being done because we voted (or didnt). Our choice, our consequences. Live with it, fight it, or find something else, but dont think for one minute that you deserve anything more.