This is all frightening. No doubt.

And Kevin Phillips certainly sounds like he knows what he's talking about.

But I question whether his predictions are totally correct. They would seem to be, given current trends in politics. But I fear that Mr. Phillips is forgetting that the White House, it's current occupant, and the Republican Party which seems in control now is looking at a comeuppance of gigantic, perhaps seismic proportions. They're just too stubborn or too stupid to notice. Having got power, they have shown that they know nothing about how to wield it, and when they do, it goes catastrophically wrong for them. From where I sit, Bush and the Republicans seem like the bunch on Titanic: having struck the iceberg, they have no idea what to do next and the water's rising fast.

The wheels seem to be coming off this administration all at once, not quite the country. At least not yet.

Not to say that there's not cause for alarm; there is. Even as they misuse and abuse power, the strain and the toll on the rest of us increases. There is something to be said for Ms. Goldberg's observation about the psychological impact of Bush's "kakistocracy". Having said that, I see a perfect storm of events coalescing to bring down the Republicans for a very long time to come, much like Europe, having seen what religious fanaticism did to their respective nations, removed religion from their constitution in forming the EU. This is a recent development. Even Canada, having elected a more conservative government, is not even close to embracing any sort of "soft theocracy" of the kind the Religionists here have planned. While all this may sound optimistic, it's not meant to be comforting. There is still a virulent strain of religious insanity running rampant in this country, and even after the current regime falls, it will still be here. We have to be vigilant and make sure it never gets hold of our values again, let alone our government.

By the by: anyone got the number of the DNC? Someone should tell them about this.

According to the dictionary, the word "folksy" means "friendly", "sociable", "informal in style or manner".

This would not fit the unintelligible gibberings of our fearless leader. Not only can he not string two sentences together, he can't even seem to hold two coherent thoughts in his head and make them sound like sensible speech.

I used to think that these snafus were every once in a while and you could get a good laugh. But now I'm convinced this is the way George W. Bush operates in the world. He's the worst kind of simpleton: impulsive, arrogant, completely out of touch, and dismissive of anyone who tries to hold him accountable. He not only acts like it, he TALKS like it.

"Folksy" my ass!

Have a beer with this guy?

Not bloody likely!

To pacificwhim,

What a great title! Can't wait to see the book. Anything that's got Pat Robertson's knickers in a twist can't be a bad thing.

Regarding this article:

As an old co-worker said to me once, "It is to laugh". Serious delusion going on here. Tom Delay being the "man that God has called in this hour". Pretty high honor for a man indicted on charges of fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to violate campaign laws, etc. His noble consort, Jack Abramoff has just been sentenced to prison in FL and is going to turn state's evidence on DeLay and the whole criminal enterprise that should lead investigators right into the Oval Office.

Loyal servants of the Most High here.

Onward Christian soldiers and all that.

As an ex-Christian, it never occured to me that this kind of hostile takeover of the country was what these whack jobs really had in mind 25 years ago. I used to hear rhetoric like this back then, but I never took it seriously or realized what it meant.

Since quitting Christianity nearly 20 years ago, I've had a chance to sort it out. Once I did that, it became clear to me that it would never work. In order to install the kind of theocracy these crackpots dream of, you would literally have to do it by force of arms. No one in their right mind is going to go for it. As evidence, I point out The Forum page of Monday's USA Today where a fellow named Tom Krattenmaker essentially says, "War on Christians? Not really. Let's all take a breath and step back. See this for what it is". That tells me that the MSM is starting to wake up and smell the espresso and beginning to expose the lunatic fringe for what it is. As long as Bush's numbers were up, these people had an echo chamber, and their effect can hardly be underestimated. But now with our "fearless leader" out of favor even among sensible Republicans, it's not so loud now. Not nearly so deafening. Sort of like a stormcloud pushing out to sea. Pretty fierce while it passed over us, but leaving no lasting damage. For this, we can all express thanks in our own ways to the God of our individual understanding.