And I focus on this:
Where the limits are must also be determined by trial and error.
I think we are launched on the way regarding Trial and Error...with the Porkulus Bill!
You've got great instincts then, Ernest_at_the_Beach! With Soros, it's really pretty simple: He is a one-worlder, a globalizer who understands that no international regime can be erected — to be run, of course, by (and for the interests of) a more-or-less self-selected set of elite, "expert" politicians — while the United States remains strong. So the object of the game is to everywhere undermine the real interests of the United States, be it in the economic, national security, or foreign relations fields. Just keep wearing away at it and, gradually, over time, you'll bring America down. There's a gradualist approach involved here; but these people are very patient. The point is, their goals are well defined. Obama's obamanation of a bail-out bill is just a tiny down payment.
It seems to me that Obama is plainly sympathetic to Soros' views regarding traditionalist structures in society that must be "overcome." How else to interpret his disparaging remark regarding gun-toting, Bible-clinging rubes in the boonies?
Well, my two cents worth, FWIW. Thanks so much for writing, Ernest_at_the_Beach!