Living in a small town in Colorado, it's easy to feel "disconnected" from maintstream culture and politics. The past few months, however, have made that disconnect gap seem wider than our Royal Gorge in Canon City. 
All the issues my family and I care about seem to have been distant from what the media and our representatives have been dwelling on.  The distance seems to get bridged, especially lately, but not because those in power genuinely understand where we are: it seems more likely that the fervor they finally exhibit is a reaction to the noise they hear, rather than coming from any self-understanding of right and wrong and what's good for our country.
They finally "get it", when they are overwhelmed with information from talk radio, polls, and blogs.  I heard Dennis Hastert comment on the news today, that "before we can address the social problems of illegal immigrants, we have to stop the flow".  Why has it taken so long for him to reach that conclusion?  And why haven't we heard the same basic plain truth from more conservatives, especially the president?
Unfortunately, I get the feeling that issues are filtered through the sieve of political correctness rather than examined for common sense about what is right and what is wrong. Is it naive to expect otherwise?  Should we just be thankful that eventually, those who represent us finally "get it"?