re: Confident, well-read liberals
Well, I'm glad you are much more enlightened than the Democratic Party. Unfortunately for us both, it's the Democratic Party that is currently squatting in Washington, seething with power-lust, and seeking control over every aspect of our lives. Reasonable live-and-let-live people from across the political spectrum aren't often inspired to go into politics, which tends to select, obviously, for power-lust.