>I don't follow what's going on at Washington every day, so I can't comment on that. From what I read on the forums and the news, it seem to me that the US is divided in two, either you're a fervent Democrat or a fervent Republican. There's few peoples in the middle ground. Each side seem to reject any ideas comming from the opponent and some of them are nearly frantic about it.

Actually, that's exactly wrong, but I see why you think it. Most Americans are somewhere in the middle on lots of issues, and the number of people who consider themselves independent has been climbing for years. However, the extremists of both parties make rational discussion hard.

Tamar