Randy,
>Arguing over which brand of political criminal is the worse is
> like arguing over 7Up or Mountain Dew.
I agree, except to when it comes to a point where there is no discrimination
at all when comparing various proven and alleged political "criminals." I
may not know as many facts as you do regarding person X and likewise you may
now as many facts regarding person Y as I do, and wouldn't it be nice if we
could exchange knowledge to a positive end or common goal? It seems so much
political debate the past few years devolves down to the lowest
name-calling, innuendo, smears, spin, and then finally lumping every
wrongdoing, whether it be laughably miniscule (Jenna Bush caught drinking in
college at age 19) or something more evident of serious misappropriation of
the public's money (Chelsea Clinton at legal age of 21 receiving Secret
Service protection for an open-ended term long after her father has left
office) into "it's all the same thing." What about the people (Dan Rather,
Barbara Boxer, NOW and others) who rabidly, like hounds went after Packwood
and forced him out of office because in his doddering moments he chased a
couple secretaries around a desk and tried to kiss them, but who now refuse
to address or dillute any question or judgment on Congressman Condit, whose
former girlfriend is missing and presumed dead? Do we really want to
continue to give up our all of our discriminating judgment for the sake of
some stupid political party? I'd rather reserve some of my brains intact
than to give them over wholesale to help out some political hack or another.
I'd rather engage in discussions that enlighten me when it comes to opposing
viewpoints, so that there is an exchange of something substantive and real,
rather than seeing who wins the point by intimidation and obscuring the
issue. We don't do ourselves ANY favors as fellow citizens by continuing to
promote such ultimately non-productive pursuits.
As for the "evil" millionaires running the world, we need to narrow that
down a bit and identify which particular millionaires are running the world
before we can come to any productive approach towards resolving whatever
evil they are inflicting on us, don't we? By lumping all millionaires
together as collectively running the world, we lump in Joni Mitchell and
most of our favorite artists, groundbreaking medical researchers, brilliant
scientists and inventors, and many good hardworking people who take the
risks to create and sustain employment for us. Do we want to lock all of
them up in the Gulag? I guess some people would like that, but it ain't my
thing, and like it or not, is probably not a pressing goal of most
Americans.
I think we need to be more specific, more fact-based, and more thoughtful in
addressing our problems if we really and sincerely want to solve them. If
we do nothing but continue to run around hunting down petty inanities, we do
nothing but give the brokers of evil more power. I'm sure they sit back and
laugh at us like we are little monkeys squawking away - in fact, I think
they love nothing better than for us to continue bickering with each other
over mostly B.S. rather than look at what they are really up to.
Kakki
