In response to your first paragraph. That's an easy one. Both political parties have NO interest in discussing the "real issues". It's more important to "paper over" all of the cracks in the facade. If any meaningful discourse caught traction, it would send too many otherwise happy lemmings into the rabbit hole. Second paragraph. That's a cop out. Each successive administration has a limited opportunity to take a stand and reverse course.
While we have long had fast socialist and a slow socialist parties in the past.The present President is the first one to openly charge headlong into blatant full fledged socialism in one fell swoop. His lies are believed by the poorly educated and the over educated college liberals. It is the way to the complete loss of what little liberty that still remains.
heypa, though I respect your opinion, I have to strongly disagree with it. I believe that the U.S. is on balance a country that has perfected capitalism, but a very pernicious form. I think nothing could be further from the truth to say that the U.S. is rushing headlong into socialism. Every measure that has the least flavor of socialism is fought tooth and nail by the establishment. We can't even get a simple increase in social security contribution rate of 2 cents on the dollar that the actuaries say is necessary to keep the system sound for the foreseeable future. And social security is an entitlement, with very weak socialist elements. Obama, in my opinion, is very much an establishment President, and that's why he is somewhat at odds with the left wing of his party. Your loss of freedom is less due to socialism than to corporate fascism. It does not much matter whether there is a Republican or Democrat in the White House. Neither party has been an effective protector of individual freedom in recent years. The worst offender is the Supreme court, and that is a 5 to 4 Republican appointee majority. Practically all the adverse decisions the court has handed down with regard to preserving Bill of Rights Freedoms have been 5 to 4 decisions. The Constitution makes Congress the superior branch, superior even to the the Supreme Court, yet Congress allows the Court to run rough shod over the Bill of Rights. Very discouraging. The Patriot Act was the tipping point, but things have gone downhill ever since the end of WW II when Truman decided to keep the defense industry going and the CIA and NSA became extra constitutional operations under the executive branch. Then we began to start a succession of unconstitutional wars with hardly a peep out of Congress. It is very easy to become fixated on one or two current issues, Obama care for example, and lose sight of the bigger picture.
IN every post, You show your love for Obama but why the tendency to qualify again and again? You should be proud of who you are and what you stand for. Just say it, I love Obama. I won't say anything, I promise.
If anything the US is headed toward extreme right wing conservatism. What used to be centrist ideas are now declared socialism or even communism. Many of Reagan's policies and actions would be considered liberal and big government today. People in the US want their government services (including defense), but they don't want to pay for it. In fact that is a common American theme: I want to get paid for no work, I want to lose weight without exercise, I want to be healthy while eating unhealthy foods, I want things to be fixed by just complaining about it, I want to feel safe at all costs, etc. etc. etc. The common response is to blame the politicians, but the politicians are simply a reflection of the populace.
I hope so but think it is too late to stop socialism. The people that failed at it just didn't do it right. They never do. It's just human nature. Look at the history of the world.