"Lost the battle but not war" - ugh. Am I alone in being tired of partisan politics? I don't care if someone's a democrat, republican, green or independent - seems like it doesn't really get us anywhere. The original thought in the 2-party system was for the clash of ideas to bring out the best in each side and ideally ending up somewhere in the middle.

With the fragile surface tension of the stock market and the flooded boat engine that is the economy it seems more important for each party to row their oar in the same direction rather than opposite out of spite, since the latter only spins the boat in a circle. I realize that oversimplifies it but it's a time to be pragmatic; each person needing to show some good will toward their nearest neighbor regardless of sociopolitical views and yet we only ever seem to get there after major national tragedies - like the period after 9/11, the period during WWII, etc. Here we are in the midst of a national economic tragedy and many people are busy splitting hairs about unimportant issues while the tide continues to rise. And yes I love analogies.

I think the Obama era is going to _need_ Republicans and I hope he has the good sense to embrace them.