Neil Gould wrote:

The real problem lies in the bad choices as only options. Considering
where we are today, after 8 years of massive and possibly unrecoverable
screw-ups on many fronts, those who voted outside "the system" are among
the few not culpable. Not that it matters. We really need to wake up.

I'm not sure that they are bad choices per se. These candidates are all
very accomplished people (except maybe Fred Thompson). The problem is
the lack of real leadership. No one wants to say anything definitive for
fear of offending someone. We need real leaders, people who aren't
afraid to say, "this will be unpopular but we have to do this because of
X, Y and Z". Lincoln did it, FDR did it, Johnson did it, Reagan did it.
Paint the picture, and pull people together to solve the problems.
Honest dialog with a mostly intelligent public.

So much of what passes for discourse today is just propaganda spun from
both sides of the spectrum and spoon fed to us in the 24hr news cycle.
It is poisoning the greatest social experiment the world has ever known,
the USofA.

KC