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The Public's Distrust
by Ralph Reiland
The good news is that Americans' distrust of government is at its highest level ever.
It's good news because it shows the public recognizes how poorly we're being governed. Not much good comes out of trusting people who shouldn't be trusted — not much good comes out of reelecting them, either.
Only 9 percent of Americans approve of the way Congress is handling its job, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. That's one point higher than the percentage of Americans who said in a 2002 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll that they believe Elvis could still be alive.
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First national day of thanksgiving in America declard by the Continental Congress
IN CONGRESS  November 1, 1777
FORASMUCH as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of; And it having pleased him in his abundant Mercy not only to continue to us the innumerable Bounties of his common Providence, but also to smile upon us in the Prosecution of a just and necessary War, for the Defence and Establishment of our unalienable Rights and Liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased in so great a Measure to prosper the Means used for the Support of our Troops and to crown our Arms with most signal success:
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And the Race is On, ...between Republicans 
By Diane Carr, Vice Chairman of YCGOP
Republicans are suffering from an embarrassment of riches these days. Interest in the 2012 campaign is centered in the GOP candidates mostly because President Obama, carrying the flag for the Democrats, is looking pretty desperate. His poll numbers keep heading lower and the few successful foreign policy decisions he’s made either were built on the efforts of former President George Bush or have garnered mixed reviews. South Carolina’s Senator Lindsey Graham has been a prescient critic of Obama’s ineptitude in handling Afghanistan, Libya, Israel and Iraq to name a few examples, challenging the President in the lone area in which he appears to be strongest. Why would we expect success from a president who seems to have such little understanding of how the world really works and who is wedded to a worldview anchored in blinkered naiveté?
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How to Fix the Housing Crisis
By Doug French 
The foreclosure crisis has crawled on for going on four years now with no end in sight.
The S&P/Case-Shiller Index for August fell3.8 percent from a year ago. The Index includes home prices for 20 US cities.
"Continued house price declines could lead to even more defaults, foreclosures and distress sales, undermining wealth, confidence and spending," William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said. "Breaking this vicious cycle is one of the most pressing issues facing policy makers."
Every one of the Republican presidential candidates is being asked how they would handle the slow-motion housing wreck. Newt Gingrich says he would rewrite the rules to make it profitable for banks to renegotiate loan principal amounts.
"He disagrees with his Republican colleagues that the free market will find a fair way to let the banks and homeowners work things out," writes Karoun Demirjian for the Las Vegas Sun.
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Davy Crockett Gets a Lesson on the U.S. Constitution
From The Life of Colonel David Crockett,
by Edward S. Ellis (Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1884)  
Crockett was then the lion of Washington. I was a great admirer of his character, and, having several friends who were intimate with him, I found no difficulty in making his acquaintance. I was fascinated with him, and he seemed to take a fancy to me.
I was one day in the lobby of the House of Representatives when a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support – rather, as I thought, because it afforded the speakers a fine opportunity for display than from the necessity of convincing anybody, for it seemed to me that everybody favored it. The Speaker was just about to put the question when Crockett arose. Everybody expected, of course, that he was going to make one of his characteristic speeches in support of the bill. He commenced:
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." -
"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." --James Madison
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