In response to:
Clearly, Ralph sees great momentum in reading these tea leaves, but I wonder. Is unity over the corruption of Washington an end in itself? When something as fundamental as "what size government?"--and all its serious tails--divides us, how can we push it aside?
Yes, Washington needs to have honor and integrity. Yes, some people on both sides of the aisle have it. Yes, the system corrupts even the most positive intent. Is it the corruption that is to blame for the profligacy?
In the question of big or little government, the corrupt will automatically opt for "BIG". Think about it.
It was only a living room conversation. But: this living room conversation, earlier in the month, was between two clashing political titans: the co-founder of MoveOn.org, Joan Blades, and the co-founder of Tea Party Patriots, the largest and most authentic of the Tea Party groups, Mark Meckler. Neither represented their respective organizations; they were there in their personal capacities only: Tabula rasa, all to the good.
A great rapport, without compromising principles, developed. Will this prove of importance? One can but consider the observation of the great quantum physicist Niels Bohr: “How wonderful that we have met with a...
Could we have beaten Hitler without Stalin?
We also have a more protracted war to wage here...do we want the "Big Government" Cronys to rule (their way, heck with the Constitution) while we fight general govt corruption? Remember, approx half of the ballots counted were for the aforesaid BGC's.