Good blog, fly. Republican pundits may not see the diverging path but Republican politicians do. I was pleased with Saxby's comments to WMAZ about the Norquist pledge he signed 20 years ago. He said he was dedicated to it still but he was more dedicated to America.

But, if Democrats labor under the misconception that they have a mandate not to sacrifice any of their sacred cows we will face two more years of gridlock.

Let's face it, if you fired every Federal employee you would only cut the deficit by 1/3 according to David Wessel of the Wall Street Journal. So the Democrats have to give on Social Security and Medicare and the Republican's on increased tax rates and Defense spending. Democrats have to look to the middle class to give up some deductions as well as the upper income 10%.

We'll see what happens. I'm a little more impressed with what I hear from Republicans about the addressing the deficit than from the Democrats at this point.

Fly,

Great post. I enjoyed reading it because you described things so well.

At one time, the Democratic party was the conservative party and the Repubs were more liberal. Prior to that, Repubs were conservative and the Demos were more liberal. The short of the story...change is a part of life. It will happen - good or bad.

It's all in how we deal with the change. Some are better at it than others.

How can it be resolved? BOTH parties must put the American people first, not corporations, not lobbyists, and definitely not party. If they do that, the answers to our problems will be crystal clear.

Both sides have lost their way. It's up to the American people to straighten them out. Quite frankly, I don't think we can because we are more obsessed with things like football, American Idol, and Honey Boo Boo.

And to top it off, some Americans need talking heads to figure things out for them. It's like we can't make up our minds without Carville, Beckel, Krauthammer, Will, and others. Gee, were the talking heads ever so wrong than this past election? I don't think so.

All, Charlie.

I was not so impressed with the blog. Had an echo of hubris.... I would remind fly that it was only 20 years ago or so that the demise of the Democratic party was just as apparent as the demise of Republican party seems today.

Yes, Bryant, it will take some sacrifice from everyone to straighten things out. I am not convinced it will happen anytime soon. Very few winners will voluntarily work to fix the mess that benefited them. I believe the Dems will sit on their high horse until they are knocked from their perch.

Walkie, I agree with your history that both parties have re-defined themselves... several times. I agree they have both lost their way. My neighbor and I were just discussing that yesterday...almost. Almost.

You see, he believes that the Democrats/Liberals are on the right path - that it is the Republicans/Conservatives who need to change or die. He is not completely happy with his party, but happy enough that he does not feel the need to encourage them to cooperate, apparently.

So, it is not just the 'talking heads' that need to re-think how to handle the future. Many common folks do to. I know I am.