There is a revolt going on in the Republican Party ("You said it, they stink on ice!"), where voters and many congressmen have decided that the leadership has been going down the wrong road. Can't tell the pigs from the men any more.

So now a lot of Republicans in Washington are ornery, individualist troublemakers, causing chaos, kicking the leadership around, and generally lowering property values. It's the sort of thing you won't see in the well-ordered Democratic Party hierarchy, where obedience to leaders and central authority is built into the system, and the political process is smooth and without nasty roadblocks or opposition.

On top of that, we have an election where one side looks like a professional wrestling tournament, and the other side is just waiting to hang the medal on the Party's Chosen One.

Yeah, it's a mess (I'm sorry, which side was "authoritarian" again? I tend to lose track).

There are a lot of bad things going on out there, including stuff that used to make news when a Republican was president. When was the last time you saw a news story on deficits or the debt? You shopped for insurance lately? I have. The Middle East is melting down, and Russia and China have decided the world might need a new policeman.

France is making us look like chickenshits! Dogs and cats, living together!

It looks like the locomotive is heading for a cliff, and people have been pushing all the proper buttons and pulling the right levers that are supposed to change course, or at least halt the careening progress, and nothing has changed.

Sometimes there comes a point where the cliff is approaching, and the only thing left to do is drop an enormous monkey wrench into the whirling gears. There might be flying shrapnel, but it could also get the job done.