What Tbogg says:
Part of me wants to agree with the Pegster that America has changed, but that part has to disagree with her on the date. I'm an "America changed on December 9, 2000" kind a guy. That was the day that the Supreme Court decided to stop the vote counting in Florida, casting a permanent shadow on the last branch of government that we thought we could count on. In theory, untainted: in reality, corrupt to the bone. We ceased knowing how our government would work from that point forward because each branch of government went to war with the other, and it seems like we've been off-balance ever since. From secret trials to secret meetings, from month-long Presidential vacations to indeterminate sentences, from government by lack of mandate to government by quiet executive orders. Everything is done on the sly now: a subtle rule change here, lobbyists assuming positions without congressional review there, judicial appointees with no paper trail, and if you do want those papers, or any others, be prepared to file a suit for them. It's all very good-old-boy muddled, done with a wink and a thin-lipped, humorless grin and no need-to-worry-your-pretty-little-head, we know what we are doing. Call it the evil of banality.
If we can't get passionate, like Peggy says, maybe its because the government won't tell us what they are doing, and the media is too busy admiring the scenery out the side window of the car, when they should be facing forward and telling us where these people are taking us. They both feed us gloss and sound bites, press releases and dog and pony shows, but nothing we can sink our teeth into. It's a symbiotic dance we aren't invited to.
