Idaho Republicans lobbed more legislative spitballs at Washington, D.C., with measures calling to sue the federal government over gun rights and control of federal land and to replace standard American currency with gold and silver.

A decade ago, Oldsmobile went. Last year, Pontiac. Saturn, Saab, and Hummer were discontinued. A thousand GM dealerships shut down.

Common wisdom, as expressed by a general theme in the media lately, is that Americans have turned from an abiding hope in their government to anger and bitterness.

A portrait is beginning to emerge of Joseph Andrew Stack, the man officials believe set his house on fire and then intentionally crashed his small aircraft into an office building in Austin, Texas.