When self-important people and powerful institutions are governed by illusion, history has a way of biting back.

Leaks and whispers are a daily routine of news-gathering in Washington.

If everyone has to be a watchdog in order to make government work, then the foxes will also volunteer to serve.

If you think about it, Washington's overwhelming power in the world is founded on death, the awesome arsenal for killing people.

A profound political question is suddenly on the table: Must the country continue to give precedence to private financial gain and market determinism over human lives and broad public values?

Obviously, people with low or even moderate incomes could not afford such savings rates, and even diligent savings from their low wages would not be enough to pay for either retirement or healthcare.

Maybe the reason some folks lag behind in our free enterprise system is because they depend too much on the free part and not enough on their own enterprise.