The New Yorker

Wow!
The editors have outdone themselves at explaining the lack of vision and follow-through of the Bush era. My prayers are that somehow we can recover. I have felt that we teeter like Rome, from Republic to Empire. We need to have a Cicero who helps guide us back to the Republic. And self-discipline, caution, and the urge to peaceful cooperation instead of T. Rex raptor status. I have said that we need most desperately to see ourselves as producers, not consumers.
It is not enough, though, for us to have a decent vision as citizens. We need to have a government which lives up to the ideals of the cooperative endeavor-- to be a "beacon on a hill."
I went to a conference with the guy who helped introduce the "credit card". He said we are on the edge between chaos and order, and he called it the "chaordic" edge. I really like that term. Because all of our institutions and social infrastructures need to be re-evaluated and reformed, in the best sense.
To me, it seems ludicrous that California, with one seventh of the population of the USA, should only have two senators, equal to each of the tiny states on the Eastern seaboard. Yes, we have more members in the House, but we need better representation in the legislative body with the greatest power. And we need massive reform of the lobbying process.
I pray for the country. I pray for all of us to listen to the "better angels of our nature". I actually believe we have them!