I know why I'm angry. I know why my friends are angry. I know why my relatives are angry.

I and my friends do not understand why progressive politicians cannot find a way to communicate the usefulness and moral correctness of expansive, inclusive social and legal polices. My mom and siblings, on the other hand, hate that social and legal policies are not more clearly, unavoidably paternalistic. Each side believes law and politics should work toward different ends.

We are disappointed. While we all have our reasons, it comes down to bemoaning a lack of leadership from anywhere. The mythology of the American Dream is crumbling under the weight of expectation and the hard blows of reality. Yet, all politicians keep throwing the trite sayings out there as if it's 1980 and we all have huge, padded shoulders to bolster our image as giants.

The liberals, hippies and yippies of the 60s and 70s decided to put on tie died t-shirts and "turn on and tune out," leaving the stiff squares to keep their ties on and take over elected office. Sitting outside a building may make you feel like you're part of a movement and be a great PR move, but it doesn't change how the system works or who works in those systems. Now these people sell enlightenment and spiritual renovation as if it will redress political and social inequity.

That airy fairy stuff doesn't change anything, so they're angry.

Meanwhile, the suits adopted the style and the music of that wilding age, but kept their focus on getting inside the power structure. They set up foundations to create public policy and encouraged young people who couldn't afford to slide out of reality to join them in building a new world order. Conservatives' realistic sense of time and power allowed them to create an intricate structure and use the disinterest and distress of progressives to slip into every aspect of politics. While liberals argued over whether or not to join the Democratic Party or get all Greenish, Republicans were looking for handsome figureheads.

Once the GOP found Reagan, liberal politics was doomed. The smooth, believable, comforting lies of absolutism created an atmosphere of false security and false hope. Now that Reagan is gone, the consequence of all those lies doesn't sit so well. Conservatives want that feeling back, that sense of time working in their favor. But, as the financial crisis illustrates, time is against Ayn Rand-like assertions of strength through ideology.

So, mom, who loves her hard line apologists, is mad.

It's not that no one has what s/he wants, it's that The US has no coherent identity, no common goal. Government has devolved into a way station for future careers as power brokers and wealthy isolationists. We want the same thing: an encompassing view of possibility, one that includes different opinions but works for as many citizens as possible.

We want a country that is like our homes. The food expands to fit the number of guests and no matter how much we disagree, over dinner, we still sit down for dessert and laugh.

Palin did exactly what she was supposed to do: hammer home the same three things over and over, regardless of the question, maintain a cheerful, friendly yet commanding appearance, and toss out figures as if they meant something.

Biden completely blew his chances to make any headway for the Obama campaign. When asked what he's changed over time, instead of setting up a story about personal and professional growth, he tells a wonky thing about justices. Important, yes, but what about his big, giant, vastly more personal shift that culminated in the Violence Against Women Act?

Iffil, like Lehrer before her, failed miserably at asking provoking questions, questions that required thought and left no room for canned answers. When will someone ask questions that demand discussion, that require the candidates to interact and think on their feet. You know, questions for discussion like teachers do in high school? Both moderators have allowed the candidates to run the debates as if they're TV infomercials.