>>The thing that is so scary right now is that your hear all the same talk of "fairness" that was so pervasive in Atlas Shrugged.

This isn't so worrying if you move past superficial similarities. ;-)

Not usually one to predict, but here's one for you: if Obama has sense he'll include schooling in his next campaign speech. The middle class is feeling bruised and neglected as they see the rich and poor receiving benefits. As a group they care a lot about schooling and (not sure whether it's published yet) apart from the usual stellar successes in centers of excellence, US schooling has problems. Even for those who aren't parents, in the modern economy you need well-educated kids taking smart jobs and developing intellectual property if you want to rely on the taxpayer at all during your dotage. If O can give the middle class hope about taxation and opportunities for their (as opposed to others') kids, he's difficult to beat. IMHO.

In view of recent discussions, I have an observation about Harvard as well. Once again Harvard has been assessed in the top 5 universities in the world. It is more and more difficult to enter Harvard unless you're supported by increasingly elitist scholarship or from elite stock so you can slip in the back door. This year, the profit on Harvard's endowment fund increased by $4B to $35B. That's $35B *profit* before you receive one cent of normal university revenue. I'd expect you can do quite a lot with an extra $34B every year even if you're already in the top 5. Compare to Po-Dunk State University that struggles to replace the cracking surface on its sports tracks and is systematically trawled by the Ivy Leagues to suck away any talent that does show up. Seems to me that tertiary education is a fully entrenched class structure in which Harvardites like Obama could have cruised through life as an elite, unconcerned and untouched by the rest of society except to have the trash taken out of course. He's chosen to enter politics and make himself unpopular in some quarters. Some people believe that whether you like the policies or not, the day that elites like Obama cease acting in what they perceive as society's greater interest rather than pursuing their own advantage, is the day that another revolution becomes inevitable.