http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/06/24/scotus.cheney.taskforce.ap/index.html

Whew, that was a close one for the Bush/Cheney ticket. Now that the Supreme Court has been torqued into punting on this decision, our fearless leaders can get back to the business of ruining our country.

These guys must be wearing Teflon suits.

There's so much foul business going on that the public doesn't know what the hell to focus on.

There's so much foul business going on that the public doesn't know what the hell to focus on.

Yeah. Maybe we need a sequel to "Wag the Dog."

I do: Focus on walking to the poll booth on election day, and Turfing the bastard out of office.

Looks like the boys are getting a little bit testy these days. Maybe things aren't going quite according to their master plan?

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/25/bush.irish.tv/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/24/cheney.leahy/index.html

Yeah well... i'll still have a bitter taste in my mouth. As bad as things are the improvement that the other guy might bring doesn't have me on the edge of my seat with excitement. Dismal times man...

Dismal times man...

I was thinking about this when Reagan passed away and they were showing all these clips from his years in office. It made me think back to high school, (the Reagan years) and how dismal things seemed then. Cold War, Iran hostage crisis just ended, Shuttle launched for first time, Shuttle disaster in '86, etc. The world is a different place now, and it almost seems that back then things were easier, like your parents would always say about when they were growing up.
So it made me think, what's it going to be like in the world in another 20 years? More dismal than today, I'm afraid...

I find it fascinating to listen to scholars who have extensively studied civilization cycles and the rise and fall of the greatest empres and nations in human history. I caught part of some guy talking on PBS the other day about this topic and am pissed i didn't record it. He mentioned all of the signs and societal movements that seem to happen before the fall of a civilizatoin and linked them to today... it was pretty scary stuff. A lot of it seemed to do with amount of luxury time, and interestingly enough, sexual activities and trends.

In reply to:

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do: Focus on walking to the poll booth on election day, and Turfing the bastard out of office.

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Unfortunately, given the widespread use of electronic voting machines for the upcoming US 2004 Presidential elections, there is no guarantee that even that simple act by the entire voting age population is enough to ensure that outcome...

We're working on that problem. Things are definitely looking up relative to where they were a year ago, although most of the real action is in California, where Secretary of State Kevin Shelley is really shaking up the establishment.

By the time my kids are adult, there probably won't be much of a society left for them to enjoy - the signs of societal repression by government in the yUK are growing and growing, and with an illegally elected Fascist in power in the White House, I feel our time here is limited.

As for Reagan - I don't care a toss, let him rot. Him and Thatcher together propogated an agenda of militaristic, f-you collapse of both British and American society. What I recall of that period was a constant, nagging sense of fear and doubt, of watching a previously trusted Police force turn into Thatcher's private army; of seeing but not believing the wholesale destruction of entire industires and commmunities; of being terrified of the next imflammatory utterance made by Reagan intended to wind up the Soviet leadership. It is all summed up for me in the classic Frankie Goes To Hollywood video of "Two Tribes".

Shudder. I am glad those times are past. Now all I have to do is live with the fear of the new society that is growing like a malignant mold around me - over indulged teenagers with too much time and money, and no motivation; living in a culture of "let someone else do that" or "it's not my responsibility"; realising that no-one wants to, or can simply *make* stuff any more. In a world with no firm, or positive leadership from any of the politicians anywhere in the world, it's no wonder that airliners get crashed into skyscrapers. Corruption everywhere - I despair.

If you think I'm being melodramatic, or excessively pessimistic, well fine. I'm not really liking the way things are going in this world. There is one thing though, that really needs to be pushed - the need for people of ALL ages and inclination, to USE THEIR VOTE to determine the government they feel they need, and rid themselves of the Morons Who Control Us (TM). It was a right earned for you by the deaths of millions, and to waste your vote is an insult to their memory.

Political rant over. Maybe I should have gone to bed earlier last night.

A quote from DWallach's home page:

I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. ... Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.
- President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864 (letter to Col. William F. Elkins)

It's supposedly a fake. But who cares?