@DCLaw1

Your point about foreign perceptions is well taken; but the 2004 elections are what you should be pointing to. The idea that "we" would re-elect Bush-Cheney is just appalling, and must appear to the rest of the world as our ratification of their evil. Granted, other nations are probably familiar with the difficulty of unseating incumbents who have the power to lie to start wars and then run for re-election as wartime leaders (see: Banana Republics). Nevertheless, the world is right to be skeptical about all of us these days.

Beyond that, I simply could not disagree with you more. If we had a democracy in which all votes counted equally, and the person who received the most votes won, then I would agree that We are responsible for Bush-Cheney. But that is simply not the case. I don't hold the Russian people responsible for the former USSR; and after seeing how easy it is to cow a "free press" I wouldn't hold the German people responsible for Nazi Germany.

The US Constitution is flawed; and the only means of achieving democracy requires the approvals of the very same small rural states whose supersized powers are the problem. Nor is our Republic resilient. The last six years have proved that the public, led by the most ignorant in the small rural states (who insist that their guns are a necessary evil that will stop tyranny), will not only surrender but demand a final end to our freedom -- provided only our freedom is given up to a right-wing, rather than a left-wing, regime.

We might recover from Bush-Cheney, but the precedents they set will remain for use by future tyrants. I have a sinking feeling the history of the 21st century is shaping up to be the struggle of the free world against the tyranny and fascism of the Yoo-nited States.

You ask, "The better question is what more can be done to fix all that has gone so terribly wrong, in the name of our great country." I admire what I'm guessing is your youthful optimism. I, on the other hand, am old enough (barely) to remember Vietnam (Cambodia, Laos). I've seen this movie before, and I know how it ends. Good luck, though. Seriously.

P.S. Here's another fun fact about the electoral college. There are 16 red (or purple) states west of the Mississippi whose total combined population is less than California's. Yet those states elect 32 senators, compared with California's two; and in 2000 those states had 81 electoral votes, versus California's 54. Do you at least see the problem?

. . . Keeping the light off of the Bush-Cheney White House every day since January 2001.

World News, 06/18/2007: 7 Afghani children killed by U.S. bombs; U.S. blames al-Qaeda.

U.S. News, 06/18/2007 (CBS): U.S. soldiers rescue abused Iraqi children from a corrupt orphanage -- a moving story, but not tied in any way to the insurgency, or even tied to Iraq. It could have happened anywhere in the world. In any event, CBS spent at least 5 minutes on it, before also noting, very quickly in passing, the tragedy in Afghanistan.

Oh, well. "U.S. Navy Seals rock!" -- eh, Katie? [from Fahrenheit 9/11] Cue happy chat.

Good article, Andrew, and good letters (even you, RealName and Xanthro). The dirty little secret of illegal immigration is that it splits Dems just as much as it splits Gops. This issue cuts to the very heart of globalization and what it means to be a nation (of immigrants).

Something that has not been pointed out is that there are a lot of people all around the world who would like the chance to participate in America's economy, but unfortunately do not share a border with the U.S. I feel bad for the law-abiding people who have been waiting in line for years, only to see millions of others jump ahead and get away with it.

Also, it is a flat lie for politicians to say illegal immigrants are doing jobs Americans "won't" do. In fact they do jobs Americans cannot afford to do; and if the borders were controlled, wages would rise according to the laws of supply and demand. Illegal immigration benefits U.S. business owners, who profit by paying less than fair wages; and these types of jobs in construction and landscaping, hotels and restaurants, hospitals and packing plants, cannot be outsourced. Prices might rise along with fair wages, and the top 1% might have to pay more for their third or fourth vacation home; but the jobs would not "disappear" overseas.

I would feel better about America's de facto open borders if I were equally free to go work anywhere in the world -- Asia, Europe -- I might see an advantage. Alas, I am not. Capital moves freely across borders; outsourcing eliminates more U.S. jobs every day; and cheap labor moves more or less freely into the U.S.& A in order to further undercut "American" workers. But Americans cannot move to or compete freely in labor markets in any other nation on Earth. (If we can, and I'm wrong, please tell me -- and please tell me where.)

None of this is meant as a slam against the illegal immigrants themselves, who only want a better life. Any "solution" from D.C. must, above all else, treat them with compassion.

Imagine where you find leadership . . . when your choices are not confined to supposedly photogenic corporate babes or hollow men with big giant heads and great blow-dried hair.

Or is smart simply the new hotness? (Stephen Colbert, ladies?) In any event, Digby's rise to greatness was due solely to the quality of her work on these anonymous Innertoobz.