Ronaldlees comments

The US political parties do not differ very much on anything of consequence, and haven't differed much for decades. There are a few fringe details that they argue over, but neither of the parties pulls the strings on any important details. Their sponsors do that, and if it's an issue the sponsors care about, then that legislation will fly through congress like a bean burrito through my dog's digestive tract.

The bickering in the news (fake or not) makes for a good theatrical performance to watch, I have to admit, but substance is limited. It's the reality TV show that you later discovered was 100 percent script. Obamacare may have been an exception, and immigration is an exception, but (even though we need health coverage for the poor) - these subjects of argument represent a only little bit of the political whole. Legislative issues of merit (questioning $zillion defense budgets) or (questioning the societal effects of the permanent "lock down" and -corporate- surveillance of America) or (debating against the stirring up of foreign trouble so as to detract from hometown economic news) or (preventing the destruction of the environment and water supply) - get no stump time. The sponsors aren't interested.

At the heart of it, the parties are monolithic. But, the good news is that all the bluster and sabre rattling and puffery is probably just that. It's just theater, so nobody really dies. Applaud for the S.O.T.U.A? Either way, scripted.