Without Education, We Are Weaker Economically. Without

The Past Always Seems Somehow More Golden, More Serious, Than The Present. We Tend To Forget The Partisanship Of Yesteryear, Preferring To Re-imagine Our History As A Sure And Steady March Toward Greatness.

I Am A Huge Admirer Of Franklin Roosevelt's, And I Believe Social Security Has Done Untold Good In Alleviating The Once-widespread Issue Of Poverty Among The Elderly. Fdr Believed In The Greatness And Generosity Of Americans - But He Was Also A Cold-blooded Politician.

As Crucial As Religion Has Been And Is To The Life Of The Nation, America's Unifying Force Has Never Been A Specific Faith, But A Commitment To Freedom - Not Least Freedom Of Conscience.

Once The Cry And The Cause Of A Generation Of Progressives To Make America Safer, Fairer And Cleaner, 'regulation' Is Now A Dirty Word In Our Politics. Even Democrats Are Quick To Talk About Cutting Regulations; Republicans Hate Them With - How To Put It? - Evangelical Fervor.

America Has Long Raised Political And Cultural Cognitive Dissonance To An Art Form. We Are Capable Of Living With Enormous Inequality And Injustice While Convincing Ourselves That We Are In Fact Moving Toward What Churchill Called The "broad, Sun-lit Uplands."