Reply #3: I'm not sure if it is the most dangerous time in US history [View All]

[TayTay]

but it is one of them. The otherr two really bad times were the Civil War and the period when Hoover had taken office as President and the Great Depression started to take a toll on Americans. The nation failed in the first instance to resolve our differences in a peaceful manner, but did, eventually, successfully navigate the second. (Not without serious flirtations with demogogery and xenophobia and such. That was a touch and go situation. This nation owes so much to FDR for pulling the country together and bringing back hope and purpose to the people.)

I believe, again, that we are going through another national clarification period that is like a silent civil war. We have shifted allegiances in this country and reconstructed what it means to be an American on a fundamental level. In a way, these issues go back to the founding of the Republic (Hamilton versus Jefferson, rural versus urban, free market values versus providing the means for citizens to rise above poverty, who is a ctizen and who sshall have full rights as a voting citizen of the Republic.)

The critical dialogues in this group are often the ones we have with Blue State inhabitants and Red State inhabitants. Even though we are all Dems and Kerry supporters, the Red State people have a handle on what the opposition has successfully said about Dems (and Kerry) that suggest what has to be overcome. I may not like this, I may hate the lies and intentional misleads that go into it, but I have to acknowledge that it is there in order to fight it. I think that's why I am so unwilling to close the door on 'DLC' Democrats. They have a legitimate read on their own constituents and it needs to be reconciled within the Democratic party if we are to achieve some sort of actionable consensus.