Chris Williamson <cdwilli@erols.com> wrote in message news:<3F1283B4.FF8BBB52@erols.com>...
> "A.D.2003" wrote:
>
> > Anger can be either destructive or constructive. I believe that at
> > this point in history, anger is not only constructive, it may just be
> > our last chance before its too late.
>
> Social Security and Medicare will destroy the country within the
> next forty years. None of the Dems are willing to deal with that
> at all, including Howard Dean. Rather than being angry, try thinking
> about how you're going to save the country from the financial disaster
> looming before us.
>

I may not have the answer, but, I can tell you the way to solve or to
deal with the problem is NOT to generate hundreds of billions,
possibly trillions, in budget deficits that stretch as far as the eye
can see.

My housecat has better ideas than that.

>>>>
SPQR
<<<<


> > A.D.
> >
> > Monday July 14, 2003
> > The Guardian
> >
> > IN THE RUNNING
> >
> > Howard Dean thinks his country should not have invaded Iraq, he wants
> > Bush's tax cuts reversed and the money spent on healthcare and
> > education. Political suicide? In fact, a unique internet campaign has
> > him leading the race for the Democratic nomination. Could he be the
> > man to kick Bush out of the White House next year? Julian Borger
> > reports
> >
> > Howard Dean is scarcely five minutes into his standard campaign speech
> > to a crowd of Democrats on a New Hampshire lawn, when it becomes
> > apparent why he is at the centre of so much unexpected excitement.
> >
> > Dean, who until recently was governor of the neighbouring state of
> > Vermont, does not exactly look the part of an electoral phenomenon. He
> > is neither tall nor imposing (a fact only emphasised by the fact his
> > handlers stand him on little stools to make his speeches). Nor can he
> > boast a military record that has become so politically handy in this
> > age of perpetual conflict. In fact, in his dour brown suit, he looks
> > every inch the provincial doctor he was before he wandered into
> > Vermont politics.
> >
> > But it is soon clear that Dean is visibly, viscerally angry and it
> > just so happens that right now, anger is what the true party faithful
> > are looking for in their presidential candidate in the 2004 elections.
> >
> > The Democratic rank and file are furious that the country was taken to
> > war on false pretences, and they are outraged at the Bush tax cuts,
> > which are in effect a transfer of staggering proportions from the
> > nation's savings account to the nation's millionaires.
> >
> > Dean has opted to give vent to that fury, in marked contrast to most
> > of his rivals from the Democratic establishment in Congress, who voted
> > to support the war and struck a deal with the White House over the tax
> > cuts. He has consequently emerged as the surprise frontrunner in the
> > Democratic nomination race, upsetting the conventional wisdom that an
> > anti-war, pro-gay (he instituted civil unions for same-sex couples in
> > Vermont) liberal could never thrive in a nation so fearful and so
> > intoxicated with patriotism.
> >
> > Garrison Nelson, a University of Vermont politics professor who has
> > watched Dean's meteoric rise, says: "The Democrats chose to leave that
> > corner of the political spectrum open, and Dean has solid political
> > instincts. He saw the gap."
> >
> > In the past few days, Dean has abruptly leapt from relative obscurity
> > to the poll position in the race for the Democratic presidential
> > nomination, raising more money than all his rivals over the past
> > quarter, $7.5m (£4.6m).
> >
> > That may be small change compared to George Bush's bulging war-chest,
> > but for a lowly Democrat in this fund-raising phase of the contest,
> > the "money primary", it is a triumph that gives Dean that
> > all-important quality - momentum.
> >
> > His outspoken style and his high-risk politics have put him at the
> > head of an insurgency. He is promising the defeat-weary Democrats what
> > John McCain promised the Republicans in 2000 - the tantalising
> > prospect of a new brand of politics that will revitalise American
> > democracy.
> >
> > "People always say Dean's so liberal he can't win," the governor tells
> > a crowd gathered on a warm evening in the small New Hampshire town of
> > Hopkinton. "But the blueprint can't be 'let's try to be like George
> > Bush'. The blueprint must be to reach out to people who have given up
> > on the political process. Stop being afraid of rightwing talkshow
> > hosts. Stop trying to plant our flag further and further to the right.
> > Plant our flag in the middle of where America is and give people a
> > reason to vote again."
> >
> > Hopkinton is an unlikely setting for a rebellion. It is a genteel
> > settlement of wooden, colonial-era homes and austere churches. All but
> > a couple of the 250 faces looking up at Dean are white and mostly
> > middle-aged - not exactly an excluded underclass.
> >
> > But that is the nature of politics in New Hampshire, a peaceful
> > prosperous state with the jarringly inappropriate motto "Live free or
> > die". Through historical accident, the place has become a crucial
> > early hoop the candidates have to jump through and survive if they are
> > to get a shot at the presidency. Consequently, contenders for the most
> > powerful job in the history of the world have to spend weeks courting
> > the state house by house, schmoozing voters in their own back gardens.
> > It is an odd arrangement - a bit like giving Northumbrians an early
> > say in who becomes prime minister - but it has been locked in
> > political tradition since John Kennedy launched his candidacy only a
> > few miles from Hopkinton in 1960 - a parallel the Dean campaign team
> > are happy to draw.
> >
> > Dean's new visibility has put him at, or near, the top of the
> > Democratic party polls both in New Hampshire and the only contest that
> > precedes it, Iowa. He is chewing the heels of the party's two
> > venerable congressional leaders, Dick Gephardt and John Kerry. And
> > Dean is now able to start building a nationwide campaign.
> >
> > "We're speeding up our decisions that we had thought we couldn't make
> > until October. We're putting staff in the south and in Oklahoma," Joe
> > Trippi, Dean's campaign manager boasted from the campaign's Vermont
> > headquarters.
> >
> > In almost any other industrialised country, Dean's campaign platform
> > would sound boringly middle-of-the-road. In Bush's America, it verges
> > towards the liberal extreme. He thinks the US should not have invaded
> > Iraq and he wants a public inquiry into the propaganda campaign that
> > preceded the war, and believes the burden of running the country
> > should now be shared with Nato and the United Nations. At home, he is
> > calling for the Bush tax cuts to be reversed and for the money to be
> > spent on healthcare, education and paying off the national debt. He is
> > arguing for a government-run health insurance scheme available to all
> > Americans - a radical proposal in a country with 42 million people
> > uninsured.
> >
> > "Surely the most powerful nation on the face of the earth can join the
> > British, the French the Germans and the Japanese who all have health
> > insurance for their citizens?" Dean asks the crowd, defying prevailing
> > political correctness by unfavourably comparing America with Europe.
> > Such unpatriotic ideas will make him an easy target for America's
> > rightwing talk show hosts, who have a stranglehold on political
> > thought in the heartland, but Dean has built his electoral persona in
> > defiance of their dominance.
> >
> > His campaign strategy has been to bypass the mainstream media and to
> > gather momentum instead on the internet. McCain and the liberal
> > Democrat, Bill Bradley, both used their websites as a successful
> > campaign tool in 2000.
> >
> > Dean's supporters, however, have gone one step further. They are
> > organising the campaign online through a commercial site, Meetup.com,
> > normally frequented by Harry Potter and Star Trek fans. The Dean
> > campaign paid the company a fee of $2,500 to use its website as a
> > billboard. It allows supporters in towns across America to find each
> > other, set up a group, and organise a place and time to meet.
> >
> > Earlier this month, for example, 55,000 of them met at exactly the
> > same time at a total of 310 halls and bars, to pledge money and to
> > write personal letters to undecided voters (in Iowa on this occasion).
> > The system has not only helped generate the flood of campaign
> > contributions, it has also fostered a spirit of solidarity among
> > campaign volunteers at minimum cost.
> >
> > "We're now getting responses from Iowa, where people are saying they
> > can't remember the last time they received a handwritten letter from
> > anyone," Trippi says.
> >
> > From an original staff of seven in January this year, the campaign now
> > has 180,000 volunteers and has set a goal of one million by the end of
> > the year. Aaron Lavallee, a 23-year-old accountant, came to the Dean
> > campaign through the Meetup.com's website. "At first I thought it was
> > a dating service, but then I saw the link to Dean, and I thought he
> > doesn't seem like an inside politician from Washington," Lavallee
> > says. "I went along to the meeting to see if I was the lone ranger in
> > my area, but there were about 40 people there."
> >
> > "He has tapped into the anti-war movement," said Michael Cornfield, a
> > professor at George Washington University's Institute for Politics,
> > Democracy and the Internet. "He's also tapped the American penchant
> > for underdogs, for picking someone from nowhere. He's this year's
> > Jimmy Carter or Gary Hart. He's a maverick and a risk-taker and
> > Americans love that."
> >
> > Cornfield, and most US political analysts, believe Dean has a
> > reasonable chance of winning the Democratic nomination. But winning
> > the presidency outright would be quite another matter. All the risks
> > he takes in the primaries would come back to haunt him in the
> > freestyle combat of the general election.
> >
> > He has no military or national security record and floundered when
> > faced with questions about the armed forces in a recent television
> > interview. While Vermont governor, he changed his stance on the death
> > penalty, from outright opposition to support in exceptional
> > circumstances, such as the murder of a child. Faced with intense
> > questioning on the issue, he looked ill at ease. He is no Bill
> > Clinton. Garrison Nelson, who has seen him in action in Vermont, says
> > he can crack under pressure.
> >
> > "The positive side of being a physician is that you believe you know
> > better than your patient. The negative side is that you don't take
> > challenges very well. He bristles when challenged," Prof Nelson says.
> >
> > When the real pressure comes, Dean may also discover the cost of
> > burning his bridges with the Democratic party leadership he has spent
> > the primaries deriding. There may be few establishment figures ready
> > to come to his defence, nor can he count on the party bastions - the
> > unions and black community groups. As governor, his fiscal
> > conservatism alienated organised labour, and Vermont is hardly an
> > ideal base from which to forge minority ties.
> >
> > The Republicans claim to be thrilled Dean is doing so well. Bush's
> > chief political adviser, Karl Rove, has even been spotted at a Dean
> > rally, shouting ironic encouragement. Dean's rivals in the Democratic
> > camp, meanwhile, warn of an electoral catastrophe reminiscent of
> > Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis.
> >
> > Then again, the Democrats have not done very well playing it safe in
> > George Bush's shadow. It is a moment of decision for the party and its
> > supporters. The only certainty is that if they choose the Howard Dean
> > route, it will at least be clear what the election is about.

"A.D.2003" <asw@ro.org> wrote in message
news:r795hvgjhcr6urhc5co706vnqpnprvdqeg@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 06:19:32 -0400, Chris Williamson
> <cdwilli@erols.com> wrote:
>
> >Social Security and Medicare will destroy the country within the
> >next forty years. None of the Dems are willing to deal with that
> >at all, including Howard Dean. Rather than being angry, try thinking
> >about how you're going to save the country from the financial disaster
> >looming before us.
>
>
> Well, impeachment would be a great place to start.
>
> A.D.

Or maybe stop plundering these systems to support populist tax breaks and
ill-conceived oil wars. Maybe if instead of running up massive deficits we
could keep the tax structure stable and along with it the economy.

-The Anti-Shrub

On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 23:56:19 GMT, "Graham Payne"
<gpayne@NeOlSiP.nAeMt> wrote:

>
>"A.D.2003" <asw@ro.org> wrote in message
>news:r795hvgjhcr6urhc5co706vnqpnprvdqeg@4ax.com.. .
>> On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 06:19:32 -0400, Chris Williamson
>> <cdwilli@erols.com> wrote:
>>
>> >Social Security and Medicare will destroy the country within the
>> >next forty years. None of the Dems are willing to deal with that
>> >at all, including Howard Dean. Rather than being angry, try thinking
>> >about how you're going to save the country from the financial disaster
>> >looming before us.
>>
>>
>> Well, impeachment would be a great place to start.
>>
>> A.D.
>
>Or maybe stop plundering these systems to support populist tax breaks and
>ill-conceived oil wars. Maybe if instead of running up massive deficits we
>could keep the tax structure stable and along with it the economy.
>
>-The Anti-Shrub
>
>
Oh, there's so many places to start improving and fixing the Bush
economic policy. In fact, with something this fucked up, I'd say
there's no place that doesn't need immediate fixing. That's why I
think any concept of making headway is a waste of time so long as Bush
and his ilk are involved -- it just aint gonna happen. Just like
the fools that are praising Bush for visiting Africa, in hopes that he
just might stand up to his word and do something positive and helpful
for anyone. He's there for one reason -- to scope out and pave the
way for how America can take advantage of the situation. Not aids,
but trade deals. Who gives a damn about all the killing and raping
that America might be able to stop -- we got new off shore oil
reserves to look at....

Same old boring story.

Only a few of us in America are able to wake up and face the ugly
truth of our collective greed, complacency and arrogance.

Here's to hoping that someday more will learn to see more clearly...
before it no longer matters any more.

A.D.

"Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear -- kept us in
a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor -- with the cry of grave
national emergency. Always there has been some terrible evil at home
or some monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we
did not blindly rally behind it..."
--General Douglas MacArthur

"There are none so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe
they are free."
--Goethe