Keep Your Eye on the Ball: Interesting Times: Online Only: The New Yorker

Keep Your Eye on the Ball: Interesting Times: Online Only: The New Yorker: ". . . conservatives, whatever the merits of their arguments, understand how much is at stake in these early months: in a few words, the new President’s ability to use government to improve our collective lives. More generally—and here’s a phrase Obama will never use—the chance for a new liberal era. Whatever his current popularity, I’d say the odds for success are no better than even. Facts—the economy—could erode Obama’s support. The Democratic Congress could flyspeck the opportunity into a million pieces. The tide of populism, currently directed at banks and executives, could change direction and swamp the Administration. And the conservative reaction, while offering nothing resembling a viable alternative, could undermine the always-fragile will of the public to put their faith in government."

The wilful determination of conservatives to recognize no responsibility of their own for destroying the country's economy and military and political standing in the world can be obnoxious and silly, or it can be a dangerous harbinger of what is to come.