It Is A Hard Thing

The Easily Ridiculed, So-so Status Quo Often Hides Herculean Efforts By Those Whom We Take For Granted, And Who, Working In The Shadows, Guarantee Civilization Instead Of Chaos.

Our Institutions, If They Do Not Erode Entirely, Can Survive Periods Of Decadence Brought On By Our Material Success, Eras When The Whole Notion Of Civic Militarism Seems Bothersome, And In Which Free Speech Is Used To Focus On Our Own Imperfections Without Concern For The Ghastly Nature Of Our Enemies.

If I Talk To Black Students On Campus, They're Not Sympathetic To The People Who Are Not Sympathetic With [black Lives Matter Movement]. The Fact That You Want To Argue Rather Than Find Some Common Ground, I Think, Has Gotten A Lot Worse In The Last Years.

Nor Did Americans Believe That Republicans Had Been Waging War On Minorities, Women, Or Gays - Especially Given That Republicans Have Held The House Only Since 2011 And Have Been Out Of Power In The Senate And Presidency Since 2009.

The Shutdown May Have Temporarily Sidetracked The Republicans, Yet Obamacare Threatens Much Worse For The Democrats. By 2014 The Former Will Be Ancient History, While The Latter Will Be An Ongoing Mess.