Good post, bgates. It’s nice to have the real bgates back, and not the impostor! I think one big difference I see in the opinions here are the level of confidence in our government in different areas. Conservatives tend to be very confident in our government’s ability to execute foreign policy but less confident when it comes to social policy. Liberals often have an opposite view, less confidence when it comes to the government’s ability to carry out foreign policy and more confidence for domestic social policies. As for myself, I’m losing confidence in our government’s ability in general to get things done, either abroad or here at home.
I totally agree on the immigration deal, people here don’t understand what’s happening. We are getting many of the poorest-educated folks from Mexico and Central America; lots don’t even read or write Spanish. The governments down there are glad to get rid of them, and our government is complicit in this whole deal.