<Some poor Columbian should have to pay a profit-making corporation for clean water or he and his family die, and Bill Gates is a "lamb", needing sympathy, support and protection.

Ah. The great sympathy for the poor. And at whose expense?

Tell you what, Robin Hood, you go down yourself and distill and haul fresh water to Columbians for free for a year, then you can come back and have something to tell us about. Don't forget to bring your own bucket.

If it wasn't for Bill Gates, I wouldn't be in front of this machine, and our economy would probably be a lot smaller than it is, even now. Or maybe the millions of people holding down jobs in industries either directly or indirectly related to Microsoft and the personal computer industry, jobs that didn't even exist 25 years ago, don't count for anything. Maybe they could all have gotten work hauling water for free.

And yes, with the vast number of people in this nation who believe that they have a moral right to rip the businessmen's guts out, a lot of businessmen do need sympathy and support, or at least an education in philosophy.

Wouldn't it be something to hear actual appreciation some day for the folks who pay almost all of the taxes in this country so that all these freebies can be floated to the electorate? The middlemen, like Wellstone, get the glory and the accolades for their vast generosity. The ones who create the wealth get spat on.