It's natural to feel monstrously pissed off right now. What you do with that feeling makes all the difference. There's a great line in The Outlaw Josey Wales when Clint Eastwood tells his about-to-be-besieged friends that the only way to save themselves is to get "plumb mad-dog mean."

Sometimes it takes dramatic extremes to wake us up. By definition, republicans and democrats serve as foils to one another. Early in any campaign, candidates try to distinguish themselves by taking polarized positions. Pro-this and anti-that.