Having worked "in government" for 30 years, and having had government benefits for even longer, now, I have a good deal of faith in the bulk of people that work for it. The vast majority, in my experience, go into government with a "service" orientation, and it shows.

Now, there is a segment of those folks who look at it "as a job" and work only for the benefits, and there are certainly leaders (especially the political ones) who bring vastly "unusual" agendas to the workplace, but even the majority of them do it for (sometimes very misguided) principled reasons. Then there are the James Watts, Louis DeJoys and Betsy DeVoses who are just out to destroy a functioning government. They're beyond incompetent, they are truly evil.

I don't think any rational person doubts Biden sincerely wants to "do good". I don't think anyone doubts that Merrick Garland wants principle to control the operations at the Department of Justice. Whether they can overcome the cynical, manipulative, destructive, deceptive political environment is the question of the age. It may be our last chance.

A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.

Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich