As we continue to discuss the instability fostered by democracy, this reader's comments from Andrew Sullivan's website are worth considering:
Yes, the public is incredibly discouraged about the economy and extremely angry at Washington. What everybody seems to be missing, though, is that the American people did this (created the dysfunction in DC) to ourselves. We voted for Barack Obama in 2008, then turned around and elected a huge number of radically conservative (actually, not conservative at all - reactionary) Republican House members in 2010. What did people think was going to happen? Was there any thought put into the implications of doing this? I’m not willing to just blame the Beltway; I also blame the American voter. We live in a democracy, and elections matter.
What are the chances that voters will blame themselves for the current state of the political environment?
And though it is far too early to make reasonable predictions about 2012 - some see signs of another wave election, but back to the left. It's not unreasonable.
