Well, the "castor oil" has been applied and the Senate has avoided a disastrous move to dissolve the filibuster. With the old hounds of the Congress working together, both GOP and Democrat senators manaaged to thwart efforts on the radical right to slam tradition in the nose and set a precedent that still may destabilize the U.S. government.

I find it hard to believe that people like Rush Limbaugh and his troop of sheep don't understand the harm inherent in this reckless move to shift power to the majority party in the Senate. This trend that the radical right is pushing is creating an open wound in the fabric of democracy.

When Limbaugh and his ilk rail about liberal judges, implying that violence is warranted against jurists who don't tow the religious right's agenda, they commit treason in my opinion. This terrible attack on the Constitution by people who believe that they've got a direct line to God is unprecedented, not in our history, but in the scale of the attack.

People have become so lackadaisacal about keeping up with political issues or even voting that I fear the whole system is in jeopardy.

It's a fool who seeks his own counsel, but that's what our president and his cabinet are doing daily, much to the detriment of the country.

Secrecy, dictated rule of law that flows from one person, these are elements of tryanny and antithetical to the United States' system of government.

I think that the filibuster is still at risk, despite the temporary compromise that seems to have been reached today.

I doubt seriously that the rabid, right-wing faction that clamors for power in Washington and, indeed, every state of the nation, will allow the compromise to stand for long. And once the 'machine' begins pressuring the president and his team it's only a matter of time before the issue is raised again. No, there's a vision unfolding in the halls of power and that vision calls for ultimate power to pass to the GOP standard bearers - meaning the religious right.

And so it goes.