Well, naturally I suppose, I disagree with all the alarmism. I just don't think you can judge the direction a society is headed by the extreme examples. Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've lived in various parts of the country, and have often worked extensively with young people, have even partied with some, and I just don't see the moral decay everyone is talking about.

Yes, it's always there. But there are also a lot of young people that -- in my experience and observation -- seem well on their way to becoming responsible adults. For some reason, those kids don't seem to get a lot of attention from law enforcement and the media though ...

And as far as the Supreme Court, and children, and consent, my suspicion is that most Americans are getting sick of the extremes. I don't think very many on the left really want to go back to the worst excesses of the 60's and 70's. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just don't see it. And vice versa. I think Americans are becoming increasingly fed up with the extremes and excesses of the right.

Maybe I'm just a polyanna (or maybe being a contrarian is just in my genes), but I think there's a real possibility that we may be in for a little more of the middle-of-the-road approach, both socially and politically, than many here are suggesting ... at least for a while.

That is, of course, not to say that there will not still be abuses of power, moral outrages, etc. I'm merely speaking of the attitudes of the great majority, not the fringes, which always exist in every society.

But it's just my 2 cents, and unlike some, I am readily willing to acknowledge I could be very, very wrong.