In today's column, "Dumb as we wanna be" Thomas Friedman has discussed the McCain-Clinton gas holiday idiocy, along with the larger issue of failure to provide stable and significant incentives for clean energy and the attendant loss of American leadership in clean energy technology.

This is, of course, but one symptom of the still larger malaise of government run by and for the benefit of the biggist corporate vested interests.  We can hardly expect more from such a government.

What has boggled me is trying to understand what we can do to check and reverse this disastrous situation.  Certainly putting a Democrat like Obama in the White House and increasing Democratic majorities in Congress is a step in the right direction.  But I can't forget how ineffective the Democratic loyal opposition has been in moderating the course of this administration, even since 2006.