Reply #86: I'm 39 and, in the final analysis, optimistic.

[stevietheman]

Why? Because the American people are now seeing clearly behind the veil of not only the Republican establishment, but also how big corporations are wringing the life out of our democracy (and even their personal lives).

I do believe the people are waking up. And the polls show it. And Bush's power is slipping with each passing day.

I have confidence that the people will rise up (somehow) to restore their republic. But this uprising will occur in a non-traditional way--that's why you're having trouble seeing it.

I posit that the nation is reaching a major catharsis, a singularity if you will, where all the old alliances, party structures and ideologies of the past will cease to make sense.

Watch it happen.