First, Porphy a while ago did a thoughtful series of posts decrying the Academy and suggesting that it's the seat of Bad Philosophy, and that it's not looking good for our team over there. I think his arguments are good and interesting, but - partly because I'm an innate optimist (hey, I'm going to get married for the third time!) - I don't have his level of anxiety about this. It's a serious issue, but let me hold this out as a counterpoint:

A new nationwide poll, released yesterday by Harvard University's Institute Of Politics, finds she is far from alone: Of the 1,200 student respondents, 31 percent identified themselves as Republicans, compared with 27 percent who said they are Democrats. The largest number, 38 percent, called themselves Independent, or unaffiliated.

The Academy doesn't live in a dewar; it is refreshed every year with new students who come in, go through it, are changed and change it in turn. Eventually, they will run departments...and it won't be in geologic or even historic time. Porphy and I'll be around to see it. Plus I owe him a response to his funny "You Know You're a Liberal" post. Next, Marc Brazeau, in Portland Oregon (Michael Totten, have you had dinner with him yet?) has a damn interesting set of policy prescriptions for the Democratic Party in the next few years. It's a long list, I agree with some but not all, but it sets out an interesting place to start talking about liberal strategy. My alltime favorite:

Democrats should be striking a bargain between business and the organized constituencies that act as countervailing forces. The bargain is this: Less regulation - More enforcement. Simpler, less nitpicky laws in exchange for bigger budgets for enforcement and real penalties for non-compliance - ball busting fines and in appropriate cases: jail time.

Ties in nicely with this, doesn't it? I'll dig in, but I'm also shamed; I need to stop doing cute op-eds and start being prescriptive. Scott Talkington has a cool blog called Demosophia; what got my attention there was a damn good post on "Totalitarianism 3.0" Here's a sample:

But it seems that, ironically, the most virulent and world-threatening forms of the malady have coincided with the rise and spread of liberal democracy. I would almost suspect that the mere presence of a system seeking to institutionalize the optimization of liberty gives rise to an opposing ideal that seeks to control every thought and act through terror. And the first manifestation of this ancient rivalry may have been in the epic Peloponnesian Wars between Athens and Sparta.

Go hang out and learn something from these folks; you may not agree, but I can guarantee you won't be bored. Sometime soon I'll dig in and complement and criticize in detail - I promise!! (corrected deeply embarassing misspelling of Scott's blog; thanks to Mitch for the correction)