The problem is his policies. He promised us Clintonomics in the campaign. Instead, he delivered a version of Keyensianism more wasteful than the original. And neither the public nor the 'experts' noticed. As usual. Pork, tax cuts, and bail outs indeed.

The Clintons improved on Keynesianism. But the public barely noticed their successes and didn't bother with the details. As usual. Americans despise smart people, probably because they feel inferior. So now we're given competing versions of massive waste. And the problem is said to be all about personatities.

Despite the experts' ham handed approach, it isn't about more spending. It's about smart spending and fiscal responsibility. Neo liberal policy worked like a charm in the 90s, and for obvious reasons. But it was created by brainiacs, and just the thought of their damn book larnin' sends the entire population into a vindictive funk.

Please see Stimulus Redux on my site.

The tech bubble was only part of the picture. Clinton's fiscal responsibility let the market work in many other areas. Even when the bubble burst, his economy never went into the crapper.

The New Deal was not wasteful. It built massive infrastructure that improved living standards like anything. And it won WWII. But Keynes' original plan, to hire people to dig ditches then fill them in, was a ham handed approach and horribly wasteful. It may have worked, but the Clintons refined and improved it.

If you want to go back 70 years, have at it. And if you don't mind paying, and making your kids' kids pay massively on the national debt, fine. But it's been obvious for centuries that usery is another form of servitude. I want my government financially strong and effective, not indentured to private interests.

On Salon, the far left are still cherry picking the Clintons' record and giving all credit to the tech bubble. No one has noticed that Obama promised fiscally responsible neo liberalism during the campaign and has given us Keynesianism instead: a hog fest of financial give aways without strings, useless tax cuts, and pork. No one wonders if we should get an untargetted tax cut when the governmnet is buried in debt. And no one is bothered that the deficit is out of control: the usual elite method of crippling government and raking in cash from interest payments on the national debt.

Until people understand the options, get off their lazy a-s--, and get involved in NGOs, the same corrupt interests will be calling the shots. And populism won't be worth spit.

Please see Stimulus Redux on my site.

Remember Susan Sarandon, her dingbat husband, and their crowd stumping for Ralph Nader in 2000. Look at Gibson's eybrows in the photo. Even without the sun glasses, you can tell nobody's home. And remember Celebrity Jeopardy on SNL. Sean Connery misreading Therapists as The Rapists.

That the public idolize this box of rocks is a tragedy.

We must know what's gone wrong in order to fix it. But's it's only one part. We also need better fiscal policy. The stimulus is a horrifying Keynesian waste. We need fiscally responsible Clintonomics now. But we won't get anything serious while the public sit on their a-s-- and do nothing.

the high-minded... elite audience". They're media operatives hired to drive a wedge between secular and religious liberals. We are natural allies. But arguments over philosophical dogma play well to the dunderhead branch of atheism that still thinks mental masterbation equals intelligence.

As for their cherry picking of history to trash religion, please. Maybe they can explain where the rationist coalition was in the abolitionist movement, or where they are in today's thousands of religious groups caring for the poor and defending the oppressed. And they must have forgotten some of science's charming contributions, like the a-bomb, stealth fighter, and global warming. It's beyond ironic that the self proclaimed rationalists rely almost completely on rhetorical tricks.

for global warming because of a little thing called the internal combustion engine. And no, I'm not a Luddite. I'm for reason and science and technology, but guided by the highest, fairest, and most practical ethics we have. Often those are religious ethics, including monastic self analysis and reflection, which many in this crowd can't understand. They're too busy looking for excuses to avoid doing anything constructive.

Bottom line: religious ethics explained centuries ago that pop culture is selfish and heartless and cruel; it's our duty to work on behalf of society's victims. And genuine religious people have been at the front of liberation and environment. Rationalists, meanwhile, have been sitting on their a-s--, reveling in the bible's many flaws, and arguing philosophical dogma too stupid for words. I think therfore I am. Please.

First step is for Franken to seize the Senate seat. Enough is enough, and we should recognize the court challenges as attempts to delay our agenda. They are working because no one is calling them on it. Next step is putting liberal legislation out there. (I'm not afraid to use the L word.) If Spector doesn't play ball, send him packing in the next primary. Without effective strategy, it isn't as sewn up as Sirota says. But then, commercial pundits are hired to confuse the issues with gloom and doom or pie in the sky bull-h--.