Thanks Fanta, I'm reading it now...

Starsailor2851

Do the whole world a favor.

Never run for public office.

Do not procreate.

As for the Founding Fathers,
they would be horrified at
what the Bush Jr. Administration
and you conservatives have
done to this country.

They're rolling in their
graves right now.

I think for myself,
I don't let either
the Democrats or
the Republicans
think for me.

The political landscape
today is like the
Wizard of Oz.

Republicans are like
the Tin Man, they have
no heart.

Democrats are like the
Cowardly Lion, they
lack the courage to
stand up for themselves.

And those that believe
the lies and half-truths
of the Bush Jr. Administration
are like the Scarecrow,
they need a brain.

Everyone needs to be voted out of office and reelected by popular vote. Preferably by an educated audience. ( Which means people need to educate themselves) Anyhow, the bad decisions are coming from all three branches, executive, legislative, and judicial. There should be a maximum term for every office held so people can't learn how to "play the system". It should also be illegal to "piggyback bills" like trying to pass one B.S. law with one that might make sense. The government shouldn't try so hard to take over civilian-run organizations, I.E. Schools, hospitals, etc. But i agree that they should have some regulating power. And if the country goes to hell, you, me, and all the other citizens are to blame because the Declaration of Independence gives us the RIGHT to "alter or abolish" the government if we see it become too corrupt or out of control. (This is why the right to bear arms is so important). That is just my opinion.

Really.

Drivinmenutz, you got me curious now.

Where is it in the Constitution
that gives us the right to
'alter or abolish'
government?

Wouldn't martial law be
declared before that
would happen?

"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world." - Declaration of Independence

And yeah....more than likely...

The right to bear arms would also more than likely be lost if it ever came time for that too.

In a heartbeart or dragged off never to be heard from again...

Thanks, Drivinmenutz.

Though I doubt if the
entrenched powers-that-be
will allow it to happen.

Bush is not a true conservative, he is a neo-conservative. You are how old and do not know that?

More insult driven responses, makes my points look all the more better when you resort to such drivel.

Quote:

New Orleans was a fault of environmentalists suing endlessly to prevent from the government flooding 'wetlands' and thus nature preserves and the building of a more fit wall to hold back the water. By the way, what caused the failure of the entire wall in the first place was a barge that was swept up by the heavy waters and slammed into it.

And, the end result of the failure, surprisingly, goes nearly fully in the court of the local and state government. Blanco is a horrible governor and she got the boot in the last election because of it.

However, I believe ever building a city right next to a huge wall that is holding back billions, probably trillions of gallons of water, as possibly the dumbest decision one could ever make. And yet, some idiots will likely move right up next to the new wall just like people decide to build again in the mountains of California where fire just passed over the year before.

Idiots, they should receive NO help from the federal government for how stupid they are. Private donations yes, but federal money, heck no.


Nice, Starsailor2851.

So what you are saying is that
the families of the thousands
of people who drowned to death
and lost their homes should
have gotten no help whatsoever
from the Federal government.

That's a pretty callous
statement from a
'true conservative'.

Obviously not a compassionate
one, as you'd rather the Feds
sat on the sidelines and let
all those people die.

Those people don't deserve
that, and I'm sure you're
not the one making those
decisions and I hope you
never will be.

I wonder what the black
conservative you quoted
would have thought about
that.

I like Ron Paul, but he doesn't have a snow balls chance. Not yet. Maybe next time.
I like his beliefs. I also like Edwards.
Kat

I was honestly talking about the California people with that following statement calling them idiots for rebuilding right next to their former house or where the whole place burned the year before.

Yes, they should have been rescued, as the Coast Guard did a wonderful job, but just like in hurricanes, after being told to get the heck out, like they were in New Orleans, they should have got the heck out. And, don't give me the bull they had no way to get out, that statement is ridiculous. They chose not to get out, they believed it wouldn't be that bad. We see this numerous times again.

We still should have endangered the lives of rescuers for those whose thought processes weren't exactly up to par, but we should have never given them free handouts, federally, many which went wasted. It should have been a solely private funded effort. There were huge donations and I personally donated as well.

And, when you say they 'don't deserve that' you are talking like a socialist yet again. You aren't even talking like an American, sounds more like a cradle to grave mentality of the federal government wiping the backside of its citizens.

I'm sorry if I don't have sympathy in the larger sense when someone decides to build a house right in front of a wall holding back trillions of gallons of water or in a fire zone that was just burned completely the year before. Insurance companies won't cover them because they know it is ridiculous to do so, but our federal government will because it has an endless supply of money to waste, because it isn't their own.

Thomas Sowell would have said everything more eloquently and would have said he knows that things like poverty of the black population and the reliance on federal government by the poor only keeps them down.

The federal government and espeically liberals, progressives, and socialists need to keep the black person down, they need victims to survive by exploiting the victims.

They never truly want the poor, be them blacks, whites, or whatever, to be free of the need from the federal government and assistance, because without them they have no one to exploit.

Man you are really paranoid,
Starsailor.

I have never believed the
government should subsidize
people from cradle to
grave and I never have,
that's another incorrect
assumption you made about me.

But there are are times when
the federal government needs
to step in, like helping
people rebuild their houses
if they're destroyed
by disasters or helping
them get relocated,
not just give them
money.

What's wrong with that?

The people in New Orleans
didn't deserve to drown
and they also didn't
deserve the Federal
government's lame response
to the disaster.

Instead, we get
'Way to go Brownie,
you're doing a hell
of a job' from Bush Jr.

There had been warnings
that the dike couldn't
withstand a certain
kind of hurricane,
but nothing was
done about it.

There's a big problem
with infrastructure in
general, and it's not just
with the federal government,
it's state governments as well.

Just like here in Minnesota
when a bridge collapsed
and people died.

It was because of the
cheapness and shortsightedness
of MNDOT, which is part of state
government, that they didn't
make the bridge that could
hold the traffic.

It's not a solution to
have people on welfare
for the rest of their lives.

I'm a firm believer in
the concept that if you
give a man a fish you feed
him for one day, but if
you teach him to fish,
you feed him for a lifetime.

I believe capitalism can
be a good thing as long
as people play by the same
rules everyone else has to
play by.

But conservative government
has given us unrestrained
laissez-faire capitalism,
like the Enron scandal,
the savings and loan
scandals and CEOs being
paid exorbitant amounts
of money while the average
worker gets screwed.

I call this 'Reverse
Robin Hood', stealing
from the poor to give
to the wealthy.

Just here in Minnesota
a CEO of a major health care
organization broke the law,
backdating stock options.

He paid hefty fines to
the SEC so he wouldn't go
to prision, but he still
got to keep $800 milliion.

I don't think it makes
you a socialist to believe
in fair wages and that
everyone should play by
the same rules.

Perhaps this would be
all fine with Ayn Rand
but it's not fine with me.

Instead we have a corporate
welfare, the rich getting richer,
the poor getting poorer, as
the capitalist pigs get
fatter on pure unrestrained greed.

lol, I am the paranoid one? whoa, you should actually step back and look at the stuff you post. Never have I claimed some great conspiracy, people who support Ron Paul are paranoid. Ron Paul said Huckabee's latest ad, where there is a cross in it, shows the man is a fascist and theocrat and would turn this country into such. Now that is nuts.

Katrina and the fallout was all Governor Blanco's fault by the way, when it comes down to it, though of course the feds in this political correct time didn't do as well either. Of course, most of the whole thing can be blamed on insane bureaucracy due to our way oversized government. Blanco did get the boot by the way, thank goodness, and maybe the environmentalists will lose out when the Army Engineers say we need to aleviate some of the water by flooding swampland.

"I'm a firm believer in
the concept that if you
give a man a fish you feed
him for one day, but if
you teach him to fish,
you feed him for a lifetime."

Then you must admit that people of New Orleans, by a highly liberal local and state government, were given a very raw deal. All the affirmative action, welfare, and all that jazz where we poured federal money only allowed a cradle to grave society.

We give them fish, but never teach them how to. The only way they can learn is by doing so on their own, because in this politically correct times, we are not able to truly teach without being portrayed as racists or the black man being portrayed as an Uncle Tom if he should dare criticize the system of victimization.

I admit SOME corporations will do anything for a buck, stab their stockholders in the back and stab their own employees in the back as well. I have no stomach for that stuff, however unlike the softies who would only want them to sit in jail, a RICH jail at that for their crimes, for pretty much killing all their employees who needed that retirement money, I would have them hung in the town square (in a matter of speaking).

Laissez-Faire is impossible, there are too many loopholes and such nowadays, but I would MUCH rather have the great freedom of business and corporations to succeed, successful only by the decision of the public to enjoy and buy their goods, rather than more things being in the hands of the federal government.

There is always going to be risk, but I'd much rather deal in risk with corporations and businesses than that of the federal government.

Starsailor2851,

I don't know enough
about Ron Paul.

I heard he's a strict
constitutionalist,
whatever that means.

I doubt he has a chance
at winning anyway, so
why would I support
someone who won't
win?

As for Katrina,
Kathleen Blanco
accepted blame
at the state level,
but President Bush
accepted the blame
on the federal level.

Bush Jr.'s appointee,
FEMA director
Michael D. Brown,
had no prior experience
that would have prepared
him for a disaster of
this magnitude.

Judging Arabian horses
doesn't qualify.

It's a problem when
political appointments
happen on the basis
of political favors
and cronyism, and
not on ability to
do the job.

It's bad government
and it has to stop.

The trouble with
not regulating
corporations and
businesses at
the Federal level
is that some of
the executives
at the top simply
cannot be trusted
to be honest.

What happened at
Enron would be a prime example.

There are other businesses
and corporations that play
by the rules, probably
the majority, but the
problem remains that
a few bad apples
spoil the whole bunch.

Michael Brown has a degree in public administration, has a law degree, and chairman of the board of the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority in which many power plants were built during his tenure.

Anyone who is bright knows that a director operates the men under him, he is the leader, who often makes the decision based solely on the men under him who are overly educated in subjects, in this case, national disasters and emergencies. You can say the same thing about Presidents.

A President barely ever has experience with economics, emergency management, foreign affiars of over 180 countries all around the world. No President is qualified to be President then, from your point of view, it is impossible. Like a FEMA Director, the President has hundreds, thousands of people under him working for him, advising him on all matters, many advisers on every subject and advisers under them advising their advisor.

Same thing with Brown. He was the Director, he gave the orders after being advised by all the very educated men and women under him.

Clear it up?

We'll if Mike Brown
who headed FEMA
relied on the 'very
educated' people
under him to make
the decisions
on Katrina, then
they must not
have been as smart
as he thought.

If you're in
a position of
leadership like
that, you have
to make command
decisions that get
results, and
this he failed
to do.

The very fact
that he had to
rely on someone
else to make
decisions for
him only underlies
his incompetence
for the task,
and I'm glad
he stepped down.

We have enough
ineffective leaders.

Here's an informative article
about this very event:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/03/brown.fema.emails/