I regularly travel to the US for work but with every visit my originally burning desire to move ebbs further. Between a political class willing to destroying the functioning of your own government over a petty squabble and a terrifyingly out of control security state even visiting is increasingly feeling like a bad idea.

That willingness is nothing new. Around the turn of the last century, it got so bad we had to modify the constitution and completely change the way we elect senators. http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/S...

This does not however make it any more palatable, nor reflect any more positively on a populace will to (re)elect people willing to engage in such destructive brinkmanship.

Maybe we should accept that human nature isn't going to change, and we should form our government to suit the people instead of vice-versa.

Assuming you're referring to the health-care fiasco, tha is not a "petty squabble". It is seen as an existential threat to the nation, and the drive to de-fund it comes from The People. If its half as badly implemented as they say it is, they're right to do whatever they can to kill it.

We don't need terrorists when the government is doing such a great job of it.

Sure we do, it's just that we only need them once every decade or three, when the government needs a new external enemy to invoke because the people have stopped taking the old one seriously for some reason.

If you'd prefer to listen to an audio version, here's http://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/319368

I've been through immigration (Washington State <-> Canada) multiple times (like more than 50 times) and I have NEVER had any issues with American immigration/border patrol. I was born in South-America (brown complexion and with an accent), but am an american citizen. Even when I was a permanent resident never had issues with them. Sure, I was detained various times (only a few times for more than 1/2 hour), but didn't feel it was an excessive amount of time. Early on, I learned that if you keep your cool, you amplify your chances of not getting flagged.

Now, about Canadian border patron...

Even though they might ask you "What brings you to Canada?", the way they really ask it, while they're condescendingly looking at you is "WTF are YOU doing in my country?"

I have been harassed so many times by them. All with no smiles, no niceness, nothing. I stumbled on an oddly worded question once... this flagged me right away. They made me feel like I was lying, and even had the audacity to tell me: "If you're lying to us; NO CANADA FOR YOU!".

IMO, American border patrol wants to get you on your way as soon as possible after they do their own checks (whatever those are). Canadian border patrol want to harass, intimidate and annoy you to the point where you just want to say "F* YOU, I'm going back to my country!"