Criticize the President? We should not even be having serious conversations about this.

[sofa king]

293. I felt that way, too.

I also agree with you that the game is rigged--that becomes plainly apparent within a couple of weeks of watching Congress.

But the rigging is a human mechanism and humans can undo it, too. Democrats have done it before, under circumstances rather similar to these. I see Harry Reid and President Obama working hard to change things, though I know a great many of you do not see that at all.

Republicans are getting older, greedier, and less able to keep up with social and technological trends. The President has done an excellent job of locking them in a room with their own most virulent and unsustainable positions, to which they obstinately cling.

Republicans are also the most powerful agents of social change where I am, unfortunately negative change, but permanent change nonetheless. Their policies are uprooting suburban and rural Republicans as they lose their homes, jobs, and health care, and those people are flocking to the cities in order to take advantage of affordable housing, public transportation, and limited free health care. They're coming to the cities to die, some of them; all of their votes are instantly absorbed by the strong Democratic presence in the cities. In their places are moving young, well educated people who work remotely and who will likely look to knock off local Republican politicians if they want to change anything. They'll have the money, the sophistication, and the connections to do it, too.

So things are changing, not in a helluva hurry or in any way I would have wished to see, but they are improving in some ways.