Who Eats Whom In The Country Of Lions?

Today's recommended dish --
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/01/obama-in-the-lions-den.html

In 1826, John Hobhouse, a member of Great Britain's parliament, coined the phrase, "His Majesty's Loyal Opposition." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyal_opposition) The idea is that even if I disagree with you, I will work together with you for our greater good. In order to function, democracies  must have a foundation of mutual respect and good will between those who are in power at any given moment and those who aren't. In a democracy, the people rule: all of the people. They just don't all rule at the same time.

There's a difference between being, as they say in Britain, the Loyal Opposition, and being obstructionist. It seems as if for several years now -- in fact, maybe forever -- in U.S. politics, there has been no Loyal Opposition; there's only been Opposition. From both parties. Everyone is out for one thing: self. Everything divides along the huge chasm of party differences. Of mine and yours. Democrats see Republicans as rampant fascists; Republicans see Democrats as unfettered socialists. Instead of the parties working together to advance civilization one tiny step at a time, whenever either party comes into power, it conducts its business as if its agenda is the only right one forever and ever, world without end, time out of mind.

America has always been a deeply divided nation. The Civil War wasn't about the issue of slavery; slavery was just one facet of the North and South's failure to connect since before the Declaration of Independence, and which extends, ironically, down to Vermont's recent threats of separation. What I want to know is, without Federal taxes, how will conservative Republicans and libertarian Vermonters maintain the Interstate highway system? How will they coordinate mail delivery among 50 different systems? How will they provide for the common defense? What will 50 different space agencies be able to do better than the Federally funded NASA? Ben Franklin said it best when he chided the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, "Gentlemen, if we don't hang together, we shall surely hang separately."