Personally, I think America's about ready for a third party (or rather, a second party that offers a legitimate alternative to instead of a variation on the Republicans). The public knows the score on this one; again, that's why 73% of it wanted a debt deal that cut spending AND raised taxes, but what choice do they have in 2012? Republicans that demanded decade old millionaire tax cuts continue even if they bankrupt the country, or Democrats who claimed to utterly reject that notion then cravenly agreed to it? The only difference between the two major US parties is that Republicans admit while Democrats deny their loyalty to wealthy campaign donors at the expense of the nation.

However sophisticated or subtle the mechanism, we're still ultimately dealing with a kleptocracy that values law solely as the means to legitimize graft. Both major parties are not only willing but eager to sacrifice the old, sick and/or poor for tax breaks to a tithe of a tithe of the nation consisting of its wealthiest members. We even hand out corporate tax breaks for sending American jobs to countries with no concept of human rights, a great benefit to the despots and corporations involved, but a dire threat to Western industry and living standards. In addition to forcing Western nations to reduce labor, environmental and product safety standards for the sake of competition, the deregulated internationalism we call globalism is redistributing wealth from free democracies to authoritarian regimes. Far from bringing Western business standards to the developing world, we're reinforcing the ability of Third World dictatorial governments both to resist such change in their own countries and promote it internationally, opposed only by Western democracies ceding them ever more of the technical, industrial and economic strength necessary to prevail in international conflicts, be they diplomatic or military.

The American public isn't so stupid it doesn't realize most of this; that's why Obamas approval rating is down to 42% and Congress' is down to 14%. It's hard to call that anything like "democratic"; a large majority of America doesn't want EITHER major party in power. When even the apparently idealistic young liberal Democrat elected amid his opponents cries of "socialism!" turns out to be simply yet another corporate crony it's time for a "third way" that's more than faux liberals adopting failed conservative policies to pursue cynical triangulation election strategies. It's time for an authentic liberal party in America, and the public is ready, nay, desperate, for just that. It increasingly looks like we'll get Romney, a living embodiment of corporate excess at the expense of everyone else, in 2012, and I expect all Hell to break loose after that.