The Two-Party Political System in the USA was Founded by Plutocrats

 Here's only a tiny part of the current state of American politics.  Each description at each link is extremely brief---

 https://www.democracynow.org/2023/2/3/headlines/house_denounces_horrors_of_socialism_in_bipartisan_resolution

[Here are some of the "horrors of socialism" in the USA:  national parks, public roads, public libraries, public health clinics, social security retirement, & anything else not privatized.]

https://www.democracynow.org/2023/2/3/headlines/1_000_children_are_yet_to_be_reunited_with_families_after_separation_at_us_mexico_border

[This borders on criminality perpetrated by Repub AND Dem elected officials & appointed bureaucrats.  Perhaps arguably, it's child abuse.]

https://www.democracynow.org/2023/2/3/headlines/guantanamo_prisoner_majid_khan_freed_and_resettled_after_2_decades_of_detention_years_of_torture

["The U.S. continues to hold 34 prisoners at Guantánamo. Only 11 of them have been charged in military tribunals."  What an egregious shame on American national politicians.  ALL humans have certain rights, including criminals, terrorists, SUSPECTS, & the like.]

HISTORY MATTERS---

The first political Parties in the USA were the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans (AKA, the Anti-Federalists).  They were formed by the first political "bosses" about twenty years after the founding of our country.  Alexander Hamilton was the Head of the Federalists, and they were in favor of a strong central government.  When the USA was forming in the mid-1770's, Hamilton favored a monarchy for our type of government; he believed we should have a King.  Thomas Jefferson was the Head of the Democratic-Republicans, and they favored strong States' Rights.

These first American political Parties were formed by the members of the social elite, the rich plutocrats of that time.  Almost all of them "owned" hundreds of slaves, and believed only the aristocracy should rule a country.  Twenty years prior to the formal organization of the two Parties, these same men formed our government.  They did not favor a democracy, and often described same as "two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner".

They finally settled on a Constitutional Republic in which "all men are created equal", except of course, for slaves.  Women couldn't vote, and members of the Senate were not elected; instead, they were appointed to office.

Time passed, and things changed.  Now we're the "land of the free and the home of the brave".  I agree we're brave.  One has to be when putting up with politicians who favor mega banks, perpetual war, fossil fuels, policing the world, the American Empire, the rich & powerful, and Edward Bernays style propaganda.  But, are you "free" - from debt, from job insecurity, from the rat-race, from pollution (e.g., the "forever chemicals" and the nano-plastics in your body), from a fractured and atomized society, from the super high cost of living, from a government too large to be managed properly, from "food deserts" scattered all across the country, from weather extremes which could have been mitigated on the macro-scale, from inflation (the hidden tax)?  If not, then place much of the blame on a broken TWO-PARTY system which is largely run by Oligarchs and/or their influence.

Don't jump to conclusions.  No one loves this country more than I do.  It's a false myth which says if you love your country, then you must support the scoundrels who are running it.  Plutocrats promote that baloney.  The aristocracy wants you to believe such nonsense.  As Warren Buffett once stated fairly recently:  "There's a Class War going on in this country, and my side is winning.".  So true, Mr. Buffett.

It doesn't have to be that way.  Stop drinking the propaganda kool-aid coming from Repubs AND Dems.  Overwhelmingly, they are on the same Team (except for a few social hot-button issues), and it's not yours.  They are on Team Oligarchy.

So, what's to be done?

1.  If you're a Democrat, don't ever vote for one of your "centrist/moderate" candidates (unless he/she is running against someone like Trump).  They are NOT centrists; they are corporatists.  They are part of the Big Business Establishment.  Instead, support Progressives.  They have their flaws, but they're the closest thing to being democratic (with a small letter "d") in the Corporatist Dem Party.  The Dem Party of the past is long-gone, replaced by neoliberalism.

After Sanders was completely shafted by the DNC, it's amazing to me that any Progressives remained in the so-called Dem Party.  They all should have dumped it.  I'm guessing they believe they'll change it from the inside.  That's highly unlikely.  It's a rigged game, rigged by billions of dollars.

2.  If you're a Republican, be aware that the Repub Party also is long-gone; it has been co-opted first by Neoconservatives, and then by Neoliberals.  They support Big Biz over Small Biz.  They egregiously promulgate Corporate Globalization and monopolies.  The only thing they want to conserve is Rule by Plutocrats.  They favor industrial farming over smaller family farms.  They abhor competition in the marketplace.  They don't give a damn about your religion, your ethics, or your belief in conservatism.  In short, you've been bamboozled.

Your best hope is to dump the so-called Repub Party, and become an Independent or perhaps a Libertarian (although, you probably won't care for the liberal side of libertarianism).  You're fairly well shafted, partly because most likely you don't know much at all about Russell Kirk, the Founder of Modern Day Conservatism.  Without knowing it, you allowed genuine conservatism to be replaced by neoliberalism.

................

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Here's EXACTLY how to defeat corporatist/fascist/xenophobic/unAmerican GOP candidates

 https://www.democracynow.org/2022/10/25/ralph_nader_mark_green_midterms_2022

Poo-poo him all you want to, but Nader is the most dedicated & brilliant friend of Main Street this country ever has had.  He shows precisely how to defeat the Party which has co-opted the Repubs for years.  Details are in the link above & the one immediately below.

https://winningamerica.net/

I'm not a Repub or Dem, but even a goose could see that the Dem Party is orders of magnitude better for the country than the unAmerican, criminal tragedy which calls itself the Repub Party.  Both major Parties are corrupt, run by the Super-Rich, & damaging to Main Street; but the Repubs are so much worse than the Dems in so many respects it boggles the mind that even ten people would vote GOP in a Fed election.  How are they worse?  Listen to Nader at the 1st link above.  He's right on the mark.  

If the Dems don't take his advice, they're dumber than a wooden post & deserve to lose next month AND in 2024.    The Repubs are just as dumb if they choose & support Trump (again) in the next Presidential election.  After his performance in January 2021, the gaslighting criminal should be popular only with cult members who are both propagandized to the hilt & ignorant beyond redemption.

......................

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Three More Blatant Lies by Our Oval Office Occupier

Note---  The following quotes may or may not be exactly as spoken.  Any error is quite minimal, and does not change the meaning of the precise quote.

1.  "We now have the greatest economy in our history."  Ha!  Not even close to that, Don Corleone.  It's only great for perhaps the upper 15% or so of income earners.  Everyone else is barely keeping even, or falling behind.  The median income in this country is only $33,188; that means half of us make less.  Asset Bubbles (a type of inflation) and the Debt Bubble are larger than just before the 2008 Crash.  Financial derivatives still are a massive problem.  Casino Capitalism and Crony Capitalism still are setting us up for the next Bust... which, by the way, is overdue.  If you don't believe that, simply look at the time intervals between Booms & Busts from the 1973 Recession to present day.  No one, including you, has eliminated the Boom-Bust Cycle.

2.  "We also now have the greatest employment in our history."  Wrong again.  See this post of mine to understand why Gov't employment/unemployment stats are almost always wrong...including those put out by your Crew---
http://individualsovereignty.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-real-state-of-union-rather-than.html
The piece also explains why Gov't inflation stats are extremely misleading.

In both cases above, today's stats are dwarfed by those of the Golden Age of American Capitalism.  During that time, not only was the economy booming, manufacturing growing, and Business thriving, but mega corporations were being taxed at up to 90%.  With its length of twenty-plus years, that economy makes today's look like an unmitigated disaster.

3.  This last quote is in relation to the Mueller Hearing that took place Wednesday.  "Under Article II [of the Constitution], I have the right to do anything I want to."  What planet are you on, Don?  Good grief.  Even a cursory examination of Article II shows that, except during times of declared war, the Presidency actually is a rather modest Office.  Perhaps you were gaslighting when you made that particular statement.  You have a penchant for trying to confuse people with outrageous claims and obvious lies.  Unfortunately for you, most of us see through your dangerous childishness.  Now we just have to convince your cult following that you're a total fraud.

Not only my opinion.  Everyone Be Well
p.s.  For any new visitors here, I'm not a Democrat or a Republican.

The Following Applies to the Top Tiers of Both Major Political Parties in the USA

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies."
~ Groucho Marx

"An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought."
~ Simon Cameron, one of the USA's first political "bosses".  He died in 1889 at the age of 90.

"Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich by promising to protect each from the other."
~ Oscar Ameringer, known as the Mark Twain of American Socialism.  He lived from 1870 through most of 1943.

"I have the most reliable friend you can have in American politics, and that is ready money."
~ Phil Gramm, a national politician who began as a Democrat and then switched to the Republican Party in 1983.  He sponsored many legislative bills favoring financial deregulation.

"There’s a whiff of the lynch mob or the lemming migration about any overlarge concentration of like-thinking individuals, no matter how virtuous their cause."  [Amen, amen, and amen to that.]
~ P. J. O'Rourke, an American political satirist.
..................................................................
It isn't that all politicians are rotten and despicable; rather, it's that the Two-Party System within which they operate is such.  That system is not required by the U.S. Constitution; neither are political Parties.  Early political bosses invented both.  Perhaps it's time to re-think the entire set-up.  Any unbiased examination of history reveals that set-up has not served us well.  Plus, despite popular opinion to the contrary, the Two-Party System (including "winner-takes-all") is not set in stone.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Relax - We Have a Stable Genius as President

If you don't believe it, just ask him...he'll tell you so.  Oh, I forgot, he's already done that.  What a sorry, sad individual we have in the top spot of the Executive Branch.  The more I learn of his whole history, the sorrier & sadder he gets.  We all should be thoroughly embarrassed that he's in office.

This would not happen in a country with honest politicians elected to the top slots, politicians who truly represented the People instead of Corporations.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well
p.s.  For any new readers of this blog:  no, I'm not a Democrat...neither am I a Republican.

The Biggest Lie

Let's begin with the premise that what I'm about to say is a generality.  There are always exceptions (usually minor) to any general truism; however, exceptions don't disprove the overall general statement... if the general statement is true.  This one is true.  We also need to accept the premise that this piece is an essay, not a scholarly research paper.  Even though I've done the research, you won't find footnotes and a bibliography; they're simply too time-consuming.  You may take my word for the accuracy of the info, or not.  In either case, you certainly can do your own research... and you'll come to the same conclusions.

So, what is the biggest lie currently being told by Oligarchs in the Fed Gov't of the USA, the Corporate Media, and the advertising depts of mega corporations (Goldman Sachs is probably the most egregious offender in that last category)???  It's not that we're in a legitimate, constitutional "war" with someone.  No, that's not it, but that was a close second.  It's not that the fairly recent bailout of health insurance companies, otherwise known as the Affordable Care Act, improved health CARE in the U.S.  Nope, that's not it.  It's not that "inflation" is low and unemployment is decreasing.  Although those all are lies, not one of them is the biggest lie.

The biggest lie (in my estimation) is that the U.S. economy is slowly improving.  You see, when Oligarchs talk about the "economy", they're NOT talking about manufacturing, or jobs that have worth, or the expansion of the shrinking Middle Class, or an increase in the quality of life for the average American (which would be a reversal of the current situation).  No, no, no.  What they're talking about is this:  the incomes of the super-rich are continuing to increase, and the whole process of Financialization is causing the GDP to grow...while manufacturing and decent jobs for the "little people" continue to shrink.  That's the reality of our "improving" economy.  Financialization does not produce anything except wealth for insiders.  It's paper creation and paper shuffling.  The idea began to take hold in the '70s, grew tremendously in the '80s and '90s (helped by deregulation of financial institutions), and exploded in terms of growth since the Millenium.  AT THE SAME TIME, wages stagnated, manufacturing and jobs were exported, the Middle Class decreased in size, and oligarchical propaganda increased exponentially.  It all continues today.

Along with "the biggest lie" is the associated lie/propaganda that the super-rich "create jobs".  In general, that's simply not true; perhaps it was decades ago, but no longer.  In this day & age, they ship manufacturing & jobs to Third World countries or China, they buy companies here and downsize them, and they merge companies and downsize them.  They take some of their money and invest in bizarre financial instruments (securitized bundles) that are shuffled around by insiders and result in no production and no jobs.  Worse, they've turned our economy (such as it is) into a giant casino.

All of the above has happened because of the fraudulent politics of both Republicans and Democrats at the highest levels.  None of it is a "conspiracy".  It's simply due to the common interests and objectives of the Oligarchs, their short-sightedness, and their greed.  To them, it's just good business.  Making it all possible has been the Edward Bernays style propaganda with which we've been bombarded for well over half a century.  There's no question whatsoever that it has been wildly successful.  Union busting, unconstitutional wars, deregulation (especially of financial institutions), so-called Free Trade agreements, our China Trade Policy, mega corporation lobbyists, Legislative Absolutism, Executive Absolutism (including Executive Orders), Judicial changing of the Constitution in place of Amendments, the Fed Reserve manipulating our currency, fractional reserve banking, the WTO, the IMF, etc., etc., ad nauseum all have contributed to not only the marginalizing of our system of gov't, but also to the ruination of our economy.

There is a better way, but first we must stop drinking the Propaganda Kool Aid.  Oligarchs rule this country; that's an axiom, accept it.  More axioms:  Republicans v. Democrats or "Conservatives" v. "Liberals" is a farce; Oligarchs choose, groom, and finance probably 99% of national political candidates; Oligarchs usually don't care who wins an election...they basically own any winner...through various means; the State-Corporate Complex essentially castrates or otherwise marginalizes any politician who isn't on board with the Oligarchs; the Game is rigged...and not in your favor; voting doesn't matter at all...there is no "lesser evil" anymore; those at the highest level in the Fed Gov't lie almost every day; those at the highest level in mega corporations lie every day; the Middle Class continues to shrink; we're rapidly moving to an economic Feudal Society; and finally, American politics is an utter fraud.

My best guess is that about 50% of our adult population already believes the above.  I'm guessing that the 25% fanatical "Conservatives" (which means Neoconservatives nowadays) and the 25% fanatical "Liberals" (both of whom are still in a dead political paradigm strictly because of propaganda) don't believe any of it...or at least, don't believe most of it.  Furthermore, they never will.  Myopic on their part.  The 50% of us who do believe it probably mostly feel that the situation is hopeless, that there's nothing significant to be done about it.  I no longer think that.  I now believe that it's possible to correct the situation with peaceful means...in big ways and in tiny ways.  Unfortunately, it will take a tremendous, sustained effort...over a significant time period.   Remember, no institutional system is carved in stone (so to speak).  One doesn't have to be a fanatic to contribute to the peaceful change of an institution; one only has to want something better and be willing to work toward it...to whatever degree with which you're comfortable.  As an East Indian activist once said, "...we be many, and they be few."...a big Amen to that.  :)

Partly just my opinion.
Happy Trails

Part 4: Paying Homage to Gonzo

For decades I've watched politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, flush my beloved country down the drain.  It continues.  Years ago, I believed in the Mainstream Political System, but I was looking only at the surface...& I was drinking the Propaganda Kool Aid, gulping it down.  For the last several years, I've looked beneath the surface and discovered the utter fraud, sham, and tragedy/joke that is American Politics.  The widespread deceit, corruption, and criminality is truly incredible.  Some of it gets reported by the prostitute Corporate Media (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, etc.), but much of it doesn't.  One has to go to other sources.  I'll illustrate, using only one other source.

The following items have been reported just recently on Democracy Now, the War and Peace Report, with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.  Perhaps you saw one or more of these topics on Corporate Media broadcasts, but I'd be willing to bet not.

1.  This year in Iraq there have been over 8,000 deaths as a result of the ongoing civil war there.  That's their highest number of casualties in the last five years.  The Sunnis and Shiites have not stopped killing each other.  Electrical service still is not provided to large parts of that country on a consistent basis.  Corruption in their government appears to be rampant.  [It makes one wonder why it was that our Fed Gov't expended so much of our blood & treasure over there.  Other than lots of big bucks for mega corporations, what did we accomplish?]

2.  Only a short time ago, Obama had millions of dollars of arms sent to the Shiite gov't of Iraq...to help fight the "terrorists".  I'll bet the Arms manufacturers here were very pleased.  Our Fed Gov't fully supports the Shiite government of Iraq...so does Iran's gov't.  I find that somewhat odd.  Basically, our Gov't is taking sides in a foreign civil war, and stoking the fires of that war by helping to arm one side.  A couple of Arab political analysts (in Western dress) found that to be rather bizarre.  I agree.

3.  Just the other day, our Fed Gov't killed four more terrorist SUSPECTS in Pakistan with yet another Drone attack.  This despite the fact that the Pakistani Gov't has told us to stop infringing on the sovereignty of the Pakistani people...by launching Drone attacks.  [You see, when our Gov't commits a crime, it's not a crime.  That only applies to other countries.  As Nixon said in a David Frost interview years ago, "When the President does it, it's not a crime."...I guess that principle still holds in DC today.]  Sorry Pakistan, you don't have any sovereignty; so says the Big Bully U.S. Gov't.

4.  A few days ago, fifteen SUSPECTS were killed in Yemen by a Drone attack.  It turns out that they were merely a wedding party going to a reception.  I imagine that the warmongers in DC will chalk it up to "collateral damage", maybe pay the victims' families a few thousand dollars, and then forget about it.  [This is shameful.  It's both immoral and unethical to go around killing suspects.  Terrorists are not soldiers, they're criminals.  The so-called "War on Terrorism" is not a war at all.  That's propaganda.  If you believe it is a war, please tell me, with which country are we at war?  When soldiers go to war, it's against soldiers from another country.  That's war.  This terrorism situation is a law enforcement issue.]

5.  Former President Bush (Dubya, not Daddy) recently cancelled an overseas trip.  He did so because sixty Human Rights Organizations around the world have been compiling evidence to be used to indict and arrest him for using/approving/ordering the torture of terrorist suspects during his administration.  [It's about time.]  Any such arrest would occur outside of this country, and the country he was going to agreed to give it a go.  [This story is not a spoof; it's true.]  Bush admitted to approving "waterboarding" in his fairly recent book.  Whether or not you agree that suffocating a person to a point just shy of death is torture or not is not relevant.  This is relevant:  every other country in the world believes that waterboarding is torture...even the few countries that do it.  I agree.  The fact that our Gov't did it is shameful and obscene...and UNAMERICAN.  Just because certain criminals are Neanderthal brutes doesn't mean that we should be.

Some of you may disagree with my views above, but that's not the point.  My point here is that I doubt you were aware of those stories if you listen to/watch only the Corporate Media.  Those networks are in league with the Fed Gov't to one degree or another, or in league with the Oligarchs of the mega corporations, or both.  We get only the news they want us to hear.  [Not long ago, CBS reported that for some unknown reason a man set himself on fire in DC, and died.  There was no follow-up story.  I suspect that the act was some sort of protest against either the Fed Gov't or mega corporations, or both.]

Incidentally, my investigator reports that the rumor regarding Ibocaine use in DC appears to be true.  He estimates that somewhere between 90% to 99% of the Fed politicians use the drug.  You may recall from Part 3 of this series that Ibocaine ingestion causes one to lose integrity and become a scumbag.  Don't confuse this drug with Ibogaine, a psychoactive substance that has been very successful in getting many people off heroin, the most addictive drug in the world.  [Ibogaine is probably banned in this country, which makes about as much sense as the ban on industrial hemp...we're the only developed country in the world that prohibits farmers from raising industrial hemp, a crop that is small-farmer-friendly and the products of which could replace many energy-gorging petro-chemical products.]

Just my opinion.
Dr. Gonzo

The Propaganda Kool Aid

Remember Jim Jones and The People's Temple, the guy who convinced (or forced) about 800 of his congregation to kill themselves by drinking cyanide-laced Kool Aid?  That's the metaphor for the essay below.

There's no nice way to say this, or perhaps it's that I don't have the time to find a nice way.  So please forgive me if I sound harsh.  I've been observing this scenario for decades, and I'm a bit fed up.

You folks who still believe that voting (in the present system) makes a difference just keep electing the same types of people over & over & over...candidates chosen, groomed, and financed by the Oligarchs. And you both (Repubs & Dems) keep blaming the other side. Here's a clue: they're all on the same side.

What if they put on an election...and nobody showed up to vote? Now THAT would send a message! But it will never happen... because Americans just keep drinking the Propaganda Kool Aid. "Oh, don't you know---it's the Republicans' fault." "Oh, don't you know---it's the Democrats' fault."

Here's another clue: it's the voters' fault...all of you. No one else puts those clowns in office. ALL of them represent the one-percenters, the Oligarchs...ALL of them vote for deficit spending... ALL of them shaft the common people... ALL of them pass laws & implement policies that transfer wealth from the Middle Class to the 1% upper crust. [40% of the wealth of this land now is owned by 1% of the people...& that's not because 99% of us are lazy.] But go ahead, keep voting for them...keep drinking the Kool Aid that says this one is different, this one is on our side, that one over there is the problem. Sorry, but you're dead wrong.

American voters (all of you) are getting exactly the type of government that you deserve...because you just keep drinking the Propaganda Kool Aid. The Oligarchs have divided & conquered us completely. When it comes to politics, I no longer have any sympathy whatsoever for American voters...apparently all you see is the false surface of American politics...the propaganda...Right v. Left, Conservatives v. Progressives, etc., etc., ad nauseum.

There is a better way...actually, almost anything would be better than the fraudulent, dictatorial, crony political parties that run the show now... puppets of the mega corporations. But first, voters have to stop drinking the Kool Aid.

Just my opinion.

Syria and Our Constitution

Here we go again. Read the Constitution---there are only two uses of the military permitted: 1. to repel invasions; 2. to quell insurrections. To get around that, Presidents have been relying on the War Powers Act to use our military pretty much whenever they see fit. The trouble is...laws do NOT supercede the Constitution. Using our military as the world's police force, no matter how justified, is unconstitutional. There is no legitimate authority for that use.  Yes, what's happening in Syria is an obscenity, but that has nothing whatsoever to do with constitutional use of the military.

An Amendment is required to change the situation, but politicians just pass laws instead. [It's easier to do that than to get 3/4ths of the States to ratify a new Amendment.] That's called "Legislative Absolutism", a term coined by Justice Harlan in 1901; it means passing laws with no regard for the limitations placed upon the Feds by the Constitution.

Let's not forget that Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pinochet, & others all had "laws" in place to justify their actions, too. The Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land. Change it if you must, but do not simply ignore it. Changing it must be done by amendment or a constitutional convention; no other ways are permitted in our system of government. None.

As always...just my opinion...after ~ 50 years of serious study of the U.S. Constitution, probably the most plainly written document ever put forth by a government.

No More Politics!

Before leaving WA, I had decided that the late and eminent Professor Carroll Quigley was correct when he stated in his book, Tragedy and Hope, (somewhat paraphrased here) "The tragedy is that we no longer have a representative government in this country, and in most countries; the hope is that the little people will come to accept that...because there is nothing they can do about it." [emphasis added]. Quigley used the term "little people" because he considered himself in the company of the unelected elitists who control/influence our politicians. He was a respected macro-historian, Bill Clinton's mentor at Georgetown U., and in no way a "nut" or "conspiracy theorist". He called the dynamic group that actually runs this country the Roundtable Group. John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, calls the group the Corporatocracy.

I doubt seriously that most Republicans and most Democrats have read either of the books cited above...and if the authors are correct (personally, I believe they are), that means that the majority of voters in this country are completely unaware of the fact that it matters very little who gets elected in this country. The Corporatocracy controls 99% of our politicians. The unelected elitists who actually run things think way above concepts such as Repub v. Dem or Conservative v. Liberal. Those are Machiavellian tools used to control and placate the masses (Quigley's "little people"). And it works like a charm.

In the early '90s, David Rockefeller (a self-admitted member of the Corporatocracy) publicly disclosed all that I described above. He said that people were now sophisticated enough to understand the value of a world government run by corporatists...which is the goal of the Roundtable Group (or, Corporatocracy). The world government he envisions has nothing to do with the U.N., but would: 1) be for the good of the people (of course, sure, you bet); 2) would be run by unelected CEOs of multi-national companies; and, 3) would still retain the facade of individual countries and governments.

You may still have faith in the American system, but if Rockefeller, Quigley, and Perkins are correct (and I believe they are), then the American system no longer exists...it only appears to exist. Meanwhile, American voters are distracted by red herrings such as the battle of the Repubs v. the Dems, and the philosophical struggle of the Conservatives v. the Liberals.

I lay all this out not because I'm trying to convince you of its veracity, but rather because it explains why---after 52 years of being a keen observer of American politics---I'm no longer interested in American politics. [I say, "52 years" because my interest began with Mr. Benson's American Govt class in 1956. I proudly wore my "I Like Ike" button. :) ] The whole thing is a charade; the good news is that the charade is becoming more and more obvious.