Twain sounds like Carlin there...Half right and half wrong...Apathetic and disillusioned...Fertile ground for the political pigs to play.

There is one solution to government corruption and that is to vote for smaller government...inch by inch if it must be.

Re: 28% of Americans Agree with Filint and Mul!
 

My point of view - its not just THIS administration that supports your statement, but the last 5. I can't remember being so disgusted with the POTS then when Clinton was in office. Republican/Democrat - all BS, self-serving, corrupt.

So hows the weather where you live?

"It is an insult to intelligence. It is like somebody picking your pocket and then helping you look for your wallet"
Sounds like typical govt behaviour to me - regardless of party.

Yeah, damn that free press!! :mad:

What we need is a constant stream of "information" filtered through the RNC. :)

Mr. Twain tersely establishes something that is objectively demonstrable. Indeed there are blindly loyal minions honesty unconscious of their ideological contradictions. Indeed there are those across the political spectrum who are trapped in the snare of false promises, crippled by their own ideological snake-oil salesman, coralled and herded like sheep by wolves in shepherd's clothing. With their flowery speech they promise a "chicken in every pot" and a "car in every garage." There are charlatans with finely tongued oratorial fluorishes proclaiming freedom of speech and opinion and liberty for all, yet they are like ravenous wolves only looking to feed on the sucker born every minute. Indeed America is not a perfect place, nor do we have a perfect system...Mr. Twain's pessimism is a part of Americana, not what necessarily makes it great.

The Founding Fathers established a great experiment, fertilized with the mulch of religious and political oppression. Some may have been selfish and designing, but not all, certainly not the majority. The "selfish" and "designing" certainly were not the fabric that has made this country great.

That which achieved final ink in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution still effects us all today. Mr. Twain is wrong to paint a pessimisstic portrait of what our fight is about. As flawed as out system is we still have a fight for our very survival, a fight against the tyranny of the utopians, the tyranny of the monarchists, the tyranny of the socialists. It is an optimitic fight for our very survival:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." -- The Constitution

When asked, at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?”, Benjamin Franklin replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

This is what we fight for; unfortunately with imperfect politicians that are oft simply a reflection of their corrupted constituents. These politicians are as much puppet-masters as they are puppets. They are manipulated by those who have ideological motivation and the money to influence them. Some are motivated by greed, others by ideology and many by freedom, the freedom to exercise their God given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Mr. Twain misses the mark by implying somehow the two party system is inherently flawed. Next to what? On what historical precedent does he found this intimation? We are the greatest country in the world and it is because of our faith, philosophy and Constitution--the faith, philosophy and Constitution as inspired by a Judeo-Christian work and community ethic...This time tested American way of life, as put forth by our Founding Fathers, is slowly being eroded by socialists (modern day monarchists) who would have us worship at the altar of the State. They slowly demand our total allegiance through every sort of control--taxation, redistribution, subsidies and tariffs--all the while waving the banner of freedom of speech and opinion and liberty for all.

The trough is big, as un-Constitutional as it is, and they all gorge from it. The temptation is too great, the egos too large, the men and women too weak, and even sometimes they are absolutely corrupted and evil.

Do we lay down our arms in apathy, or do we demand accountability? Do we scrap that venerated document for something new, something utopian, something progressive? Or do we fight for what made this country great, prosperous, generous and free to be these things?...Do we fight for limited government, the right to speak our minds truthfully, the right to own property and do with it what we will, the right to defend our lives, our families and our freedoms?

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that time on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship." -- Alexander Tytler (1801)

I think so.

Leave the trough out and pigs are bound to feed from it...Put them on a diet and they get thinner.

Perhaps - but the alternative, which seems to be free market only, seems to be even worse because private companies have trough grazing as their ONLY goal and unfortunately some services just don't/shouldn't make money (health, education, defence, provision of infrastructure etc). So wadya do?

Edit - I feel if we must have govt then you've got to keep a constant eye on the buggers lest they feather their nest too much and bend you over too far. Hence my reluctance to engage in the 'trust us - it's true' game that they so often seem to play. Don't trust any of them - ever.

I have yet to see a corporation enslave a people or commit genocide.

Probably not enough money in genocide but I bet you could make a pretty good case for corporations being involved in the slavery thing. Surely there were corporations in your country's history engaged in that kind of stuff?

I guess my main point was that while I don't particularly trust the politicians or public service to do their job properly, without the snouts in the trough thing, nor do I particularly believe private profit motivation is the best way to get certain things done. Which, as you can imagine, leaves me in a difficult position most of the time :)

They were state sanctioned corporations trading in a product bought from like-skinned Africans...It wasn't the corporations that were the evil, they were just profiting on demand...One is not required to buy a corporations products; one, however, is required to buy what the government is selling whether you like it or not...at gun-point if necessary.

Wow! Your article claims that the Bush approval ratings have dropped to 40% for the first time. As bad as you make that sound, the "low" ratings for recent previous Presidents (per Neal Boortz) is as follows:

Bush Sr. 29%
LBJ 35%
Clinton 37%
Reagan 35%
Nixon 24%
Ford 37%
Carter 28%

Apparently he still beats his predecessors. Not bad considering it is in the aftermath of two deadly hurricanes, during the second of 2 wars and after a recession....and in spite of a liberal press that hates him. He must be doing something right.

If the media was objective his numbers would be in the 60s, probably the high 70s...They are not objective.

"One has to ask themselves what in the world changed their (those polled) minds?..." - MDose

Mul,

It's probably a case of that trick punctuation again. You know, moving a comma here, replacing an exclamation mark there. I'm sure that Bushs' statement regarding how difficult it is to put food on your family was brilliant in its' initial form.

Re: 28% of Americans Agree with Filint and Mul!
 

" 28% of Americans Agree with Filint and Mul!"

As long as more agree on election day...as has been the case for a long time.....I am happy with the situation
and the country is safe from the wackos.
Face it, the only ones they really fool anymore....is themselves.

jorian...give me a little more credit than that...Bush is not a good public speaker, granted, but he is a man of pretty darned good character and has quite a brainy team in his corner...You have to admit that it hasn't been a cake-walk 5 years...In theory he possibly could have done some things differently, but just as plausible, if not more so, is he has done better than a satisfactory job given the circumstances.

"state sanctioned corporations trading in a product bought from like-skinned Africans...It wasn't the corporations that were the evil, they were just profiting on demand"
Sounds like corporations profiting from slavery to me. That's a pretty fine line you're drawing - fine enough that I'd call it nonexistant. In any case, I think we agree that most of the time govts can't really be trusted - it's just that I think corporations can be trusted even less, whereas you seem to feel they can be trusted a little more. No biggy.

I can't express how refreshing it was too see this. I won't mention whose screen name this was next too.

Superman, you're the man. Applause.

My ears are burning...pussies

Yes, typical liberal ploy. If you don't have a better argument...insult the opposition.

In Europe...working smashingly for them.:rolleyes: