I understand that constant chaff attacks on Republicans and Bush keep people from noticing the utter vacuum of Democratic policy (and not just in economics), but at some point, people are expecting someone to stand up and say "this is how you fix this, and this is how you keep it from happening again." And then have real ideas other than putting political enemies in the stocks. Democrats aren't doing it. Neither are Republicans. They've got nothing. We've bred economic know-how out of our politicians.

So far the only answer I've heard from liberals is "get rid of Republicans," with the corollary, "put Democrats in charge."

Okay, so now I'm watching nations that, essentially, do things exactly the way Democrats would. Nations held up to me by liberals as examples of good government. How's that working? Have you seen what happened in Iceland?

Systemic. It's about putting too damn much power in too few hands, not having the power in the hands of "the right people." But if you go there, you have to discard a lot of cherished liberal ideas.