As an initial matter, I have to give Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI) credit for being the first one out of the gate, knowing full well that everyone's going to distance themselves from him over time, including - perhaps especially - the Republicans, who are going to have to start courting seniors again after duping them in to voting for them in 2010. There's nothing about Ryan's proposal for anyone, left or right, to like - but at least he started the conversation, something everyone else in Washington has been too cowardly to do, including, by the way, President Obama. And, for the record, to those who accuse me of never giving him any credit (as if my vote in 2000 wasn't enough), that excludes George W. Bush, who suffered the ill effects of daring to touch the 3rd rail of politics as he was spending whatever political capital he had in reserve for the 11 months between his re-election and the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina.
I recently had a Facebook conversation with an old friend of mine from back in my misguided Republican days, about a topic of great importance that I raised with him. Despite my having left the ranks of the Republican party long ago, I still like and respect this friend a great deal and very much enjoy engaging him in discussions about our fundamental differences of political opinion. 
With each passing day, I recognize my country less and less. The so-called "patriots" of the ultra-regressive Tea Party movement are pulling this nation closer and closer to true, textbook fascism -- and it's happening right before our eyes. 
President Obama's recent decision to participate in air strikes against Libya to enforce a UN-approved no-fly zone, intended to prevent the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent people seeking freedom from more than 40 years of oppressive brutality by the Gaddafi regime, has, once again, exposed a vein of hypocrisy
