Tom wrote: "As far as damage is concerned, I know what socialism does to countries, and what people like Ted Kennedy would do if they had the power they really wanted. I know who would be in key leadership posts if Democrats took power again, and what their positions are in those areas. Unlike a lot of people who seem to be going way off the deep end around here about Republicans in power, I don't think Democrats taking back power would mean the end of existence, but I would prefer not to have to deal with the results."

So Tom, this is a little vague here. What exactly would Ted Kennedy do if he had the power he really wanted? You have implications here but no specifics. I'm looking for stuff like socialistic totalitarianism. What exactly are the positions the new leaders would have? I wish I had your psychic powers here but my intuition tends to tell me the people you speak of would make few changes to the status quo. They'd probably remove a whole lot of legislation that in the minds of many Americans has truly divided and diminished our country. They'd more than likely bolster and empower schools, come up with a national health care plan, raise the minimum wage. They'd probably enact tougher mileage standards on automakers, pump more money into alternate energy research. Of course there'd be pork for their pet state projects but I doubt it'd be any worse than what we're seeing out of the current crop of leaders.

Nowhere in my limited crystal ball do I see anything the current Dem leadership might try that would seriously hurt our country and turn us into goose-stepping automatons. The major threat (and it's my opinion it'd only be a small speedbump to them) would be to the enormous profits and wealth of our largest corporations and top executives. As the infamous Rhett Butler so aptly said "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

Art