[RickC]

Wait a minute - wasn't the architect of our entrance into World War II a Liberal? I think the guy even CREATED the Welfare State and Big Government - his name was Franklin something?

And didn't some other guy from Missouri start us along the road to the Cold War? And didn't that Churchill guy introduce welfare to England with his buddy Llyod George while he was a Liberal?

Hmm, it's possible that those were good ideas then - ideas that kept Communism at bay and strengthened Constitutional Government here in America. Ideas that helped to heal the flaws of capitalism as it was then practiced. Evolution of a Society towards perfection - or at least a better life for one's children - The American Dream.

If these ideas are less than useful now - well - to try and legislate for the distant future is not what we're supposed to be doing. We're supposed to legislate as well as we can for OUR times, and then let the next generation discover and fix the errors we've made.

And what about the opposition in those times? Weren't those opposed to our fighting Hitler in the years before WWII Conservative Republicans & college students?

Wasn't Pat Buchanan the most representative of this wing of the Republicans just 10 years ago after the fall of the Soviets? Didn't he think that we could retreat to a Fortress America?

Yes, Liberals can be loony (Like Republican Teddy Roosevelt, I actually PREFER Yosemite without condos on El Capitan).

But the REAL reality is that Americans need to study history a bit more, and try to hide from its lessons a little bit less. That much is common to both parties.

The current vicious divide between Liberals and Conservatives is a four decades old fight between the Baby Boomers - almost none of whom on either side decided to fight in SE Asia.

I for one can't wait until that generation of politicians passes on to retirement. The whole country, IMHO, will be better off. They've never gotten over the battles of their formative years, and thus can't see the situation as clearly as those who went before and those who will come after them.