In a message dated 02/14/2003 10:32:44 AM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: > The real question, the one I am attempting to address squarely, is what > should America now do? Well, it should gets it collective ass out of other peoples' countries, it should stop looting their economies, it should stop propping up ruthless dictators, and it should stop devouring the world's resources out of proportion to just about every other country. For myself, I don't see anywhere in your remarks that you are attempting to 'address squarely' what America should do now. Mostly you've been blithering about George Bush, and how he was 'elected' -- and you don't seem to realize that a serious disagreement exits within this country as to whether or not he was elected -- and how we should all get behind him and kill Iraqis, Afghanis,or whomever. This is not, as some on this list would suggest, a sophisticated issue -- it's all about the money -- the tens of trillions (that's trillions, Bubba) that Iraqi oil alone represents to Western Oil Companies. That's why we're being put at risk, so that the corpocracy can swell up like a bloated tick. If we have to lose a few buildings -- or a few cities -- then tough shit. (Please, don't anyone waste their time telling me that it's about World Domination -- the only reason any country would want to dominate the world is to cash in on it.) Now I accept that there isn't much one can do about it, but neither do we have to sit around writing paeans to our inglorious leaders, and waxing sentimental about a view of America one gets from a Jimmy Stewart movie. jb... They hang the man and flog the woman That steal the goose from off the common, But let the greater villain loose That steals the common from the goose. Constant apprehension of war has the same tendency to render the head too large for the body. A standing military force with an overgrown executive will not long be safe. companions to liberty. -- Thomas Jefferson "America is a quarter of a billion people totally misinformed and disinformed by their government. This is tragic but our media is -- I wouldn't even say corrupt -- it's just beyond telling us anything that the government doesn't want us to know." Gore Vidal