<I think it's supposed to be a "government of the people, by the people and for the people".

Not for the land, corporations, or rich. Not for Republicans, conservatives, fundamental Christians alone. For them, too, in addition to everyone else.

Just galls conservatives, though.



Don't feel particularly galled, although I cool down some as I get further from April 15.

I am still waiting to see this massive theocracy crack down on us. To you, it seems almost imminent, or like it has already happened. I was unhappy with Clinton in office, and another ratchet toward socialism, but I wasn't looking for the Red Army to come marching down the street every morning. How about waiting until something evil actually happens? Vigilance on human rights in a crisis situation is a good idea, but we went through much more rigid restrictions during WWII, and you know what? They went away.

...By the time these folks get through with "national security", land will be voting, and people without it won't. People who own land, and have a party affiliation which starts with the letter "R". Oh, and people who have benefited directly from a government subsidy.

Okay, now you're just being silly. Let's see someone pass a law to keep all the Democrats from voting. And if anyone at all on your list should NOT be voting, it's those who get government subsidies. But since government subsidies are the main method for politicians to buy votes, this group will always get the red carpet at the polling booths.

More people wanted Gore than Bush. Period.

If you have a gripe with the electoral college, write your congressman. Somehow I seriously doubt you would be bitching if Gore had won the college and Bush had won the popular vote.

I realize the right-wing is more interested in profits and dividends than people. However, the government, the country, is about people.

I always get an immediate negative impression about anyone who uses "profit" as a dirty word. Just in case you might have missed out on high-school economics,* "profit" is what you get when your skills and efforts increase the value of something beyond its original value. Real "Profit" is wealth that has been actually created, not just moved from one pocket to another.

Oddly, and this may not be a coincidence, I find most people who use "profit" as a curse word are highly enthusiastic about looting those same profits and pumping them into some useless "unprofitable" endeavor of their own choice.

From "Atlas Shrugged." Dagny Taggart is talking to a particularly sleazy socialist "businessman:"

[Dagny:] "I am trying to find a certain man who used to work for the Twentieth Century Motor Company."



[Lawson:] "Why do you wish to find him?"

"I want him to work for my railroad."

He spread his arms wide, looking incredulous and slightly indignant. "At such a moment, when crucial issues hang in the balance, you choose to waste your time on looking for some one employee? Believe me, the fate of your railroad depends on Mr. Mouch much more than on any employee you ever find."

"Good day," she said.

She had turned to go, when he said, his voice jerky and high, "You haven't any right to despise me."

She stopped to look at him. "I have expressed no opinion."

"I am perfectly innocent, since I lost my money, since I lost all of my own money for a good cause. My motives were pure. I wanted nothing for myself. I've never sought anything for myself. Miss Taggart, I can proudly say that in all of my life I have never made a profit!"

Her voice was quiet, steady and solemn:

"Mr. Lawson, I think I should let you know that of all the statements a man can make, that is the one I consider most despicable."



(I love this new CD-ROM)

Just in case this might have escaped you, people are the ones who generate profits and dividends. All businessmen are people, and in one way or another, almost all people are businessmen, i.e. they trade their skills for money. While it is trendy for liberals to view business as demons from hell at worst, and as a foul necessity at best, kind of like cleaning toilets, you might want to take a look around you. Every damn thing you see was made by some businessman, unless you count that crappy clay thing you made in high school art class. And face it, you wish you could have sold that, don't you?

And I'm afraid the rebound from this government will be fierce. Sort of like what happened after the "Contract with America", only worse.

Given that the Democrats are becoming more transparent about their real motives every day, the most likely "rebound" will be a Republican electoral avalanche in the next couple of elections, but I ain't counting my chickens just yet.

There was no "rebound" from the Contract with America, which contained a lot of damn good ideas, and in reality got a lot of Republicans elected, if you care to remember.

The "rebound," if you want to call it that, was the fallout from the full-bore war declared on the Republican House and Gingrich by the Democrats, who set up the "government closure" and other attempts to demonize Republicans. Gingrich was eventually destroyed, and the Whorehopper in Chief went on to reelection. Interestingly, the Republicans still held on to both houses in the following elections, until the Daschle Coup, which seems to indicate the "rebound" was not all that serious.

*Oh, right. The LAST thing a public school system wants kids to learn is real economics. That's just asking for it.