"And yet publicly it's difficult to find much soul-searching or introspection on either side of the {political} divide, or even the slightest admission of responsibility for the gridlock
. What we hear instead, not only in campaigns but on editorial pages, on bookstands, or in the ever-expanding blog universe, are deflection of criticism and assignments of blame
. Depending on your tastes, our condition is the natural result of radical conservatism or perverse liberalism, ....
In distilled form, though, the explanations of both the right and the left have become mirror images of each other. 
"Of course, there is another story to be told, by the millions of Americans who are going about their buisiness every day. They are on the job or looking for work, starting businesses, helping their kids with homework, and struggling with high gas bills, insufficient health insurance, and a pension that some bankruptcy court somewhere has rendered unenforceable.
"A government that truly represents these Americans - truly serves these Americans - will require a different kind of politics. That politics will need to reflect our lives as they are actually lived.
"And we will need to remind ourselves, despite our differences, just how much we share
; common hopes, common dreams, a bond that will not break."
Barack Obama, (2006). The audacity of hope.
. What we hear instead, not only in campaigns but on editorial pages, on bookstands, or in the ever-expanding blog universe, are deflection of criticism and assignments of blame. Depending on your tastes, our condition is the natural result of radical conservatism or perverse liberalism, .... In distilled form, though, the explanations of both the right and the left have become mirror images of each other. "Of course, there is another story to be told, by the millions of Americans who are going about their buisiness every day. They are on the job or looking for work, starting businesses, helping their kids with homework, and struggling with high gas bills, insufficient health insurance, and a pension that some bankruptcy court somewhere has rendered unenforceable.
"A government that truly represents these Americans - truly serves these Americans - will require a different kind of politics. That politics will need to reflect our lives as they are actually lived.
"And we will need to remind ourselves, despite our differences, just how much we share
; common hopes, common dreams, a bond that will not break." Barack Obama, (2006). The audacity of hope.
