1) Was it Spengler who said that every mighty civilization so far started to fail when it got so successful it refused to tax itself enough to pay for those succcesses? And is that where we are?

3) When did an entire political party in the US — once honorable and devoted to democracy — become more interested in pleasing wealthy patrons and extreme talk show hosts than in governing wisely?

4) What the hell is wrong with compromise, anyway? When did we start confusing hardheadedness with backbone?