>"If the Democratic Party actually thought this way instead of being a load of closed Marxists, all our lives would be better. Just because the kind of person who likes to smoke weed and stare at the fluffy clouds tends to vote Democrat doesn't mean that Tom Daschle, Ted Kennedy, and Hillary Clinton think this way. For God's sake, please don't confuse the small-d "democrat" with the organization that calls itself the modern Democratic Party."

Actually, I am not apt to confuse small-d "democrat" with the modern Democratic Party any more than I would confuse small-r "republican" with that exclusive club that calls itself Newt Gingrich's Republican Party.

>"You sound to me to be a little smarter than one of those parrots that drops terms like "mean spirited" left and right when some leftist pokes it into his head on a TV show. The misuse of this term is beginning to piss me off."

Thanks. Note that the truth often hurts, or it least irritates. The point here is it is irrational to denigrate the Democratic Party as a demonic collection of Yahoos, and not realize the flawed structure of that grouping of WASPS known as the tight assed Republican Party. Just can't have it one way, chum.

>.... like calling a slave "mean spirited" when he takes off for the North and leaves the plantation owner a hand short for the harvest."

Actually the Republican Party and Lincoln would consider a property crime had been committed.

>"The deliberate destruction of language is a major feature of totalitarianism."

This is something we both agree with. However, I must risk this delicate point of agreement to mention you have a tendency to wade in with self-serving daffynitions to echo John Galt. While I find this entertaining, some of the posters think you are the new Webster and this gamesmanship is fun, it is concept destructive at times.

>"Just out of curiosity, and with absolutely no insult intended, did you volunteer for military service or were you drafted? "

Not a problem. First went to the Naval Academy, didn't like it--so took athletic scholarship to my university. Went into the service after four years of ROTC. Not exactly volunteer, not drafted--being consistent I found a third way.