We're all "all over the map" in our thinking, DJ. The old rules about how our country runs best, the old ways we came to expect our government to work, they all seem to be out the window. We're in deep do-do and we all know it. But those that we've elected to get us out of this mess can't seem to agree on where the sun comes up in the morning. And they don't seem to care! All that seems important to them is that they get re-elected so they can argue endlessly even more.

The way we thought our government was supposed to work, what we thought the framers meant when they wrote the Constitution, that doesn't work either. The members of the Congress seem to have put some rules in place, arguably un-Constitutional rules, that have rendered the whole process totally ineffective. And still, they don't care.

Yeah, all those criticisms of Europe have lost traction with me. When I see how the countries of my forebears--Sweden and Finland--operate, I find myself wishing we could be the same. Not only is their healthcare and education better, but their unemployment and levels of poverty are a fraction of ours, and when surveys are run, their citizens wouldn't think about leaving their homeland(s), even if given a chance to come to the United States. No, they'd definitely not want to come to the United States!

Like you, there's not much I can do to influence change--my lousy single vote isn't even considered when compared to the lobbyists wandering around the Capitol with wads of money. Also like you, I'm pretty sure I know what the outcome will be, and it's not a pretty picture.

But there's little I can do about it.