And by devoting most of your post to mourning a lost past and raging against a changed future, you demonstrate that you can't really accept that the world changes. The world doesn't give a rat's ass what you think and it's going to change, with you or without you. Only those who embrace change will survive and prosper. Those who resist change will be ground to dust.

One fundamental difference between you as some variety of Conservative and me as something of a Liberal is that you have trouble with abstractions and tend to define the world in very material terms. You define America as a set of boundaries on a map, and as a population that's overwhelmingly Caucasian. But you're blind to the deeper meaning of America as an idea.

To me, while the past is gone, it's also set in stone, and all that America means is recorded as a set of ideals and values that will endure to end of time. The boundaries may change, the population may change, someday the political entity that we call the United States of America may cease to exist. But all that matters about us will endure, and will shape the world for all time.

I think we have much to be proud of, and much that can never be taken from us. But all you see is that today is not like yesterday, and you're afraid, and in your fear you forget who you are, who we are, as Americans. You become small to the degree that you let demagogues like Bush terrorize you and make you hide under the bed.

The world needs curators of the museum of past glories, but please don't try to convince us that the museum is the reality. That way leads to stasis and a sterile worship of a dead past. Mainstream America is today and is what today's Americans say it is. Life in a free country is all about change.

I've just coined the old saying "life imitates Zone", because a few hours before you posted your denunciation of Russia and "mercenary capitalism", I was on a latenight conference call with a Russian company, talking capitalism and computers. Your head might've exploded trying to deal with the culture shock and the mixture of languages, but I found it stimulating and hopeful. At one point it the meeting reminded me of the audio track to ISS operations, with the mixture of languages and accents. And I thought about how remarkable it was that the FBI hadn't busted down the door and hauled me away, as would surely have happened just a couple of decades ago.

Change is good, Tech. It doesn't matter that Republican fortunes are in the toilet; this too shall pass. Change happens and life goes on, and all we can do is try to make the best of the changes. Laying down on the tracks won't stop the train.