Believe me, I'm certainly not arguing against your underlying premises. And I have been following events in Wisconsin closely and have been amazed at the brazen way the GOP there has chosen to utilize legislative tricks, if not outright ignoring laws and legislative procedures that were inconvenient, to ram through their legislation. I know the unions in Wisconsin made the offer to negotiate on everything, and I commend them for that. That's not something the unions in New York seem willing to do, and the popular support the unions in Wisconsin in Michigan are seeing is less likely to happen here.

Unfortunately, I think the most important statement you made in your earlier post is that Americans, in general, are either morons or willfully ignorant. I honestly think that most people in this country want to be absolved of having to make any decisions about anything. They want someone to tell them what to think, and the side that makes the loudest arguments about the most volatile issues using words with the least syllables possible is going to have a distinct advantage. Maybe that's a bit harsh, or maybe not harsh enough. Looking at the population in general, I'm reminded more and more about the Proles of 1984. As long as they get their entertainment and just enough material goods to survive, they go blissfully on their way, merely ducking and shrugging whenever the occasional rocket bomb comes crashing in...