Opinion

I love my country. I grew up in a suburb of Boston, about 20 minutes from Plymouth, Mass. You’ve heard of Plymouth. It’s the place where the boat the Mayflower hit upon a rock and where its passengers, escaping religious persecution, would make their home. I visited Plymouth more than I wanted to as a child on field trips. I have more pieces of that rock in glass than any souvenir owner should have. I learned the story of the Pilgrims, Native Americans, and the first Thanksgiving. But mostly, I learned that some people would risk death for their religious freedom. That, my friend, is what America was founded on and what it stands for today.

Rocked by spiraling approval numbers fueled by a weak economy, President Obama has introduced a massive $350 billion spending stimulus package in a desperate and cynical attempt to buy votes for November’s election. If the election was a football game, we are now in the fourth quarter and both sides only have a few plays left. And this looks like a transparent political attempt at what is known in football as a “Hail Mary” pass, a last ditch effort to protect Democrats from heavy losses in the midterm elections.

Democrats are in a state of panic. And Republicans are rightfully giddy about new ABC News/Washington Post poll numbers showing the GOP with huge advantages going into November's midterm elections.

The almost-always perspicacious Steve Pearlstein has a sobering column in the Washington Post today. And when you combine it with this series (and the accompanying slide show) at Slate, it brings to mind what Thomas Jefferson once said, about a just God and trembling for one’s country.