I'm Surprised I Still Have Hair

I began this blog in October 2010 during the Congressional election campaigns.  The first few posts dealt with the abysmal quality of political speech in the USA and with the threat that it posed to democracy.  I also wrote briefly about the need to consider both limitations on corporate speech and changes in the way state and federal level government was organized.

Over the last three months I have been pulling my hair as Republicans resorted to terrorist tactics on the debt ceiling and President Obama helplessly sulked in the dog White House.  I know that many of my friends, Republicans and Democrats alike, suffered from the same political alopecia.

The antics of both parties have left me mad, deeply disappointed with the President's failure to lead and with grave doubts about the future of the country.

If you share this anguish, I highly recommend that you set aside some time and read

"Can the Middle Class Be Saved", Don Peck's thoughtful (and long) analysis of the impoverishment of the middle class in American and of what can be done about it in The Atlantic September issue.

"Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult",  A shocking diatribe by Mike Lofgren who for thirty years worked on budget and defense issues for Republican Congressmen.


"People Don't Realize How Fragile Democracy Is" James Fallow's blog post commenting on Lofgren's piece and adding more insider testimony.