Beware the man selling simple solutions to complex problems... or something like that.
This axiom holds true in our recent debate on the upcoming elections in November and 2012. I do believe Libertarianism IS gaining a foothold, but it would not take much to knock that foot right out from under it. Further, simply electing a Libertarian leaning president for a term or 2 won't get it done, either. We need a revolution in thinking... and we need number of real-deal Libertarians in the House and Senate... people that, like Ron Paul, Eschew empire, militarism, and all uses of force to accomplish social and political goals, as well as addicting people to government support and handouts.
Things are going to change, one way or the other, in the very near future (I define near future for this purpose as less than 1 decade). The international bond market is simply not going to fund us at some point before 2020. Yes, our domestic savings could rise to meet the need for a couple of years... but 10% deficit to GDP years like last year and this and next.... well, they cannot continue and always end up badly.
I am encouraged in that the Blogsphere and the Web have indeed circumvented the strangle hold that the Main Stream Media had held on the population (even the thinking portion of the population). The drivel that passed for journalism in the past is being held up for examination, and most of it has failed the sniff test.
In my view, there is one glaring failure of the community of folks discussing Peak Oil and energy issues - and that is censorship. Too many of the Blogs and Wed sites, EnergyBulletin.net comes immediately to mind, censure anything they view as a challenge, rejection, or indictment to most Left leaning political philosophy by only publishing commentary that fits their world view. Intelligent and open co-examination of the facts is the beauty of the Blogsphere, and perhaps the saving force for the American and Western body politic.
Let the open debate continue.