Par for the course, the "national dialogue" (read: what the MSM deems to be fit for their truncated list of trite and nonsensical talking points) regarding our current economic quandary has detiorated to the sort of semantic sophistry that every single anchor on CNN will be all too happy to entertain with brows furrowed and lips pursed just so, subtle psychological cues meant to persuade the viewer that they should take this earful of horseshit seriously.

Supposedly, everyone agrees that the economy is on the ropes.  It requires stimulus.  Everyone knows that.  Duh!

Greta Christina has written a straight-forward piece at AlterNet that addresses what was wrong with all of the piety at the inauguration.  For my money, here's the quote:

Although it's been expected that there would be legal arguements both for and against the legal standing of California's Proposition 8, which amends the state's constitution such that only opposite sex marriages are recognized, the manner in which these arguments are playing out has just become more interesting.  State Attorney General Jerry Brown has asked the California State Supreme Court to overturn Prop. 8 in a recent filing.  From the SF Chronicle:

One of the interesting developments of the past several years has been what seems to be a more prominent place in American dialogues for the voices of non-believers.  Best-selling books on the subject of atheism have emerged from Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchins.  A humorous examination of religious belief was offered up in cinematic format by Bill Maher.  All of this has more or less been part of rather uncharacteristically mainstream attention, much to the chagrin of self-labeled culture warriors.