Once upon a time, in a land that now seems to have been populated by tooth fairies and unicorns, there was a political party that had a set of core beliefs to which they actually adhered.

Among them was that actually balancing the budget, as opposed to just talking about it, was sacrosanct. Slow change, while necessary, had to be balanced against the traditions of the United States, ones that had mostly served us well over two centuries.

Foreign military adventures should be limited to our national security interests. And one of the single most important components of diplomacy was protecting the economic interests not only of an elite few, but of the great many Americans who toiled in our factories and fields.

This party was known as the Republican Party, and while one might have disagreed with them on their policy prescriptions to cure any particular US ill, one could at least see some logic in their beliefs and understand that they - with some obvious exceptions from time to time (ahem, Joseph McCarthy, ahem) - were doing what they thought was right for the United States of America.

Today, this once respectable organization has turned into nothing so much as a collective id the size of a David-Vitter-Pampers shopping spree. When facing changes to this nation that make them uncomfortable, they choose national hate. When facing ideological worship versus the greatness of the US, the former always wins the day. When facing a choice of what is good for the US or their campaign bank accounts, they inevitably go with the latter.

In simple terms: We, the people of the United States, are the maid. The GOP is Arnold Schwarzenegger. Any questions?

The one caveat is that it's not Republicans, so much as the forces of the anti-American, gun-toting, religious and corporate Right that have taken over the GOP who are responsible for papa's brand new bag. The Right is Darth Sidious to the GOP's Anakin Skywalker, Angelina Jolie to foreign-born children.

And yes, sadly, the Dark Lord has also sunk his hooks into quite a few in the Democratic Party, just somewhat less in number and relevance.

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CHICAGO – Visitors to the Sears Tower's new glass balconies all seem to agree: The first step is the hardest.

The balconies are suspended 1,353 feet in the air and jut out four feet from the building's 103rd floor Skydeck. Their transparent walls, floor and ceiling leave visitors with the impression they're floating over the city.

"It's like walking on ice," said Margaret Kemp, of Bishop, Calif., who said her heart was still pounding even after stepping away from the balcony. "That first step you take — 'am I going down?'"

Click here to see more images of "The Ledge." Would you walk out on it?

Open thread below...

Another embarrassment for the war of terror.

A federal judge has declared another mistrial against six men accused of plotting to spark an anti-government war by toppling Chicago's Sears Tower and bombing FBI offices.
U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard ordered a mistrial Wednesday when jurors reported they were hopelessly deadlocked after 13 days of deliberation in the case of the so-called "Liberty City Seven." The first trial ended in a mistrial in December because of a hung jury for the same six defendants and the acquittal of a seventh.

The six defendants could have faced up to 70 years in prison if convicted of four conspiracy charges.

Logan posted on the first trial here. Jeralyn's take on the original case too.

AttyTood:

Look, what really happened at JFK was a hijacking. A chance for the potential next leaders of the United States to talk about a) real threats from bona fide terrorists, such as the unstable situation we've fostered in Pakistan and b) other issues that actually affect the day-to-day life of most Americans, like education, was hijacked by questions based around a local law-enforcement matter.

And, as Josh Marshall and others pointed out over the weekend, this is yet another time that implausible, half-baked and unfeasible plots have been trumpeted as high victories in the war in terror, including one plan to take down the Brooklyn Bridge with a blowtorch, the plot to "blow up the Sears Tower" by losers in Miami who probably couldn't find Chicago on a big roadmap, and our own inept Fort Dix crew.

Not that it will happen, but I wish the media, from CNN to Fox to the AP to everyone in between, would go to the nearest window and yell: "All 'terrorism' is not created equal."

Dick Cheney said yesterday that the group of would-be terrorists caught in Miami were "a very real threat." Except, after scratching beneath the surface just a little, there's ample reason to believe that's not the case.

Anyone who claims that the administration just broke up a plot to attack the Sears Tower is overstating what's occurred here. The "Miami 7" could hardly attack a convenience store .

-- Guest Post by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report

Chicago Protest
A C&L reader writes in:
"I work in the building directly south of the Sears Tower and in the heart of the Chicago Loop where today's immigration protest is taking place. It is simply astounding. The city streets are packed much farther west of Michigan Ave and Grant Park than the previous rally a month or so ago. here must be 6 or 7 times the amount of participants, which they estimated at 100k for the last event. The crowd breaks out into seemingly spontaneous cheers about every 5 minutes, but none so loud as when they are chanting USA, USA, USA. Also, its completely civil, so lets hope it inspires something more than just awe."

Georgia10:

"It's difficult to describe the energy that radiated from the mass of humanity before me. Their chants of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" caused this section of the city to pulsate. Whether you believe protests are effective or not, whether you agree with those protesting or not, it's hard to deny that these people, with their mere presence, have proved that the art of protest is still alive in the streets of America...read on"

Here's more in Denver.