I hear ya Don, but this is the sump, and all goes here is my understanding.

Keith,

I have read many of your posts with interest and am struggling to retain hope as a former liberal. I can't say that I am a conservative, but I have lost all faith in government, and find myself agreeing more and more with folks that I used to consider right-wing nuts. I may be becoming overly cynical, but it seems that the utopic view that I once held - the hope of getting to a more enlightened, egalitarian society - is either way ahead of our current state of evolution as humans at best, or a hopelessly nieve position at worst.

All I see happening is a continually greater concentration of power and wealth, as has happened repeatedly throughout history. The game is rigged by big corp/ruling class, which chooses the candidates, who then further rig the game. Republican or Democrat seem to make no positive change, with the only difference being the rethoric used and which smoke and mirror tactics are employed to dup the populace into focusing on smaller issues, and each other.