The flag, as a symbol of the nation, is not owned by the administration in power, but by the people. We battle over what it means, but all Americans -- across the political spectrum -- have an equal right to claim the flag as their own.

What we need to appreciate is that Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt led us through our greatest national crises and not only prevailed, but made America freer, more equal, and more democratic in the process.

Like the secessionists of 1860, the Republicans are so determined to achieve their objectives that they are willing to accept the threat of catastrophe in order to have their own way.

We need to take back our politics, so that what is sensible is also possible. Maybe, just maybe, events in Madison and elsewhere are the beginning of that process.

It is a sign of how radical conservatives have become that they are raising issues that have seemed settled for many decades. Now comes the most radically extreme proposal yet: repeal of the 14th amendment.

We now have this example of a pro-reform demonstrator appearing at a weekend tea party protest packing heat.

So there's nothing new about Mediscare-style arguments, rambunctious and easily manipulated populists, or Astroturf-style mobilizations. But there is something about this debate that feels different, and more intense.

Time to evolve past Joe the Plumber, past Rush Limbaugh, past the politics and ideology that verge on those that launched the Spanish Inquisition.

It's time America wake up to the fact that Christians in this country have become just as radicalized (albeit in other ways) as those who pervert Islam (or insert religion here) elsewhere.

Rank-and-file teamsters get it. They aren't willing to be swayed by false, irrelevant arguments. They want change. They want ideas. And the fact is -- McCain doesn't have any.