This quote (as well as its authors name) is a mouthful. Leave it to bureaucrats to take advantage of every little opportunity to take any small piece of freedom from citizens. The Patriot Act certainly has provisions that could be abused. I don't know that they have been yet. If anyone has any evidence, let's hear it. However, knowing government, any and everything that can be abused eventually will be.

This Dersh-bag thinks might makes right. That is the law of the jungle, not the law of free men.

What happened, Waffler, was corruption in the form of the teacher's union and Indian casinos, both of which had a lot of money to throw around) that influenced one particular political party. At the same time a large influx of people moved here from California (maybe fleeing from Cali?) and brought their own political way of life with them. This threw the balance of power to the same party that was being bought by the teacher's union bosses and casino owners and left the opposition party floundering and helpless. We basically have a single party state and a corrupt one at that. I let you figure out which party is which. It shouldn't be too hard.

I wouldn't trust my neighbors with my wallet. Why would I trust them with my vote? What we have today are people who put party above country, party above morality, party above anything and everything. It is a craven lust for pure power to control everyone around them for a few and a vapid, empty minded fanaticism for other herd like people. Those are the "friends" and neighbors I don't trust. If I sound cynical, it's because I am; and I am because my eyes are open. Some choose to be ignorant, others don't.

You are apparently not familiar with Washington state elections where votes are "found" all the time. If your vote is "wrong" then your signature becomes suddenly suspect, and on and on ad nauseum. There is no confidence in our elections, even by the winners if truth be told.

In a democracy you are free to choose nothing. Your neighbors get to choose for you.

Good one, Robert. Your a real comedian.

According to USGS Canada is #1, Saudi Arabia is #2, and Venezuela is #3 as sources of oil imported to the US (as of 2000 and I don't think that's changed). Be that as it may, my point is that one has to be careful not to outrun their evidence when it comes to conspiracies, not that there are no conspiracies. It's the conspiracy nuts that let their beliefs become religious in nature that allow the real conspiracy to remain hidden.

Now, be a good little serf and get to work!

You have a business. Next door is a competitor. One night your competitor's business burns to the ground. Therefore, you are an arsonist. Great logic. As for profit from Iraqi oil: exactly how much oil are they pumping? Less than before the war? If I were a conspirator I would not try to find more oil to pump, I would try to restrict the supply and/or create uncertainty in the market to drive up the price. I would try to shut off current supplies and also restrict development of known reserves such as ANWR, gulf coast, etc. I would use the environmental NGO's to pressure government to regulate development out of existence. Who benefits? Why, of course the largest oil supplier to the US. That would be Canada. Therefore, Canadians are responsible for 911. That's how conspiracy theories work.

The only sensible thing to do is spend while you've got it. It make even more sense to spend it before you get it. Americans have learned their lesson well. The government has engineered that we will not be a saver society, but a consumer society instead. Then they have the audacity to tell us we don't save enough. If nobody has a savings when they're old they are totally dependent on government. It is all by design.

Waffler, a good portion of that extra $34 goes to pay for the research and development of the next drug you're going to need. It's too bad Mexico, or Canada for that matter, are not paying their fair share.

I'd rather have a king who leaves me alone than a politburo that "cares" about me. There is one thing a powerful capitalist cannot do: legally force his will on you at the point of a gun.

Our "caring" politicians HRC, Obama, and McCain have all taken large sums of money from health care lobbyists in this campaign (in that order, by the way). How interesting that Clinton is talking about garnishing the wages of workers who refuse to buy health insurance. Who do you think loves this idea? It looks like she is ready to pay back those contributions. The other two probably have similar plans but are too smart to actually say so. That's the current conspiracy.

I agree, Waffler. DEA, FBI, ATF, EPA and a whole host of alphabet agencies use Gestapo tactics and are rarely accountable. The CIA operates more like a conspiracy of extortionists.

FDR picked a Communist for his running mate (Wallace). In fact, however, FDR had more in common with the Fascists than Communists. A kinder, gentler Fascism; but Fascism nonetheless.

Alan Keyes: saying in a thousand words what any ordinary man could say in ten.

If we make government our god, then all of our crimes become sins.

Morality requires you to respect life, liberty, and property. Government provides the consequences when people do not abide by those morals that can affect your neighbors. There are obviously other requirements of morality that do not impose themselves on others if you fail to follow them. Those are not governments business. It is a matter of conscience between you and your God.

Now that this pesky freedom of speech nonsense has been nearly done away with, let's start working on those unacceptable thoughts people are thinking. Just remember, don't take the sheep to the slaughterhouse until after we've sheared them.........signed, John McCain.

He does not sound like much of a deist if those yet unborn are depending on God. That statement would imply that God influences events on earth now and in the future. That is not a deist clockwork in motion idea. As for the quote, somehow I think Washington would be appalled at the soft slavery Americans have accepted for themselves. We have been living under a kinder, gentler fascism since at least the New Deal, and it is only getting worse (your papers please).

To anonymous above: both "moral idiot" and "immoral Christian" are oxymoronic phrases. An idiot does not have the mental capacity to know right from wrong and is hence amoral. A Christian behaves like Christ, and Christ was not immoral. People can call themselves what they want. I can call myself a tree, but that doesn't make me one. The benefit of religion to society is that it codifies morality. It takes the benefit of thousands of years of society's hard learned lessons and teaches them to each generation. When one depends solely on his own conscience to determine right from wrong and what is just, then he is arrogantly saying that he is smarter, better, more knowledgeable than everyone who has ever lived.

I am disgusted at how many of today's so-called civil rights leaders and politicians have perverted this simple message for self promotion and profit. They are race warlords, and only live to perpetuate racial strife. The more envy they can instill, the more profit for them.

Riot is never effective. Armed revolt is sometimes effective. Conversion to ones point of view from moral authority is often effective. When people call different societies morally equivalent when they obviously are not, they obscure and damage their own moral authority and that third nonviolent option. All societies, religions, philosophies, and beliefs are not equivalent and do not have the same moral authority. Indeed, some are pure evil.

Nonviolent resistance was the only logical and moral choice IN THE UNITED STATES. It is not necessarily the only logical or moral choice everywhere. Nonviolent resistance is only effective against a government that is made up of mostly moral people. That is why it worked in India and the United States. Can anyone imagine nonviolent resistance working in the Stalinist USSR or Nazi Germany? If our own government gets to the point where it is not made up of moral people, nonviolent resistance will not be effective here either. The point is, use nonviolent methods while they still remain effective, while you still have a chance. Otherwise you are only left with terrible choices.