Perhaps we should practice this in Florida where they seem happy stealing an office and yet our prison is full of purse stealers. When will we wake up as a proposed civilized nation and become a beacon of integrity again (I think we were there once upon a time) instead of an example to the despots.

The one thing common in the fall of all great Nations is the gradual taking away of free speech. Others include; the lack of compassion, greed, and intolerance.

Yes, yes, yes - David they probably already have your password unless you dont use a keyboard.

"Enjoyment of power" is not what corrupts but man's interpretion of it.

Excellent! What is conspicuous by its absence is very intersting

He also forgets the fact that criminals carry guns because we do. In Europe only one burglar in a thousand carries a gun in America it is one in every ten – you do the math. America is so violent that even the kids shoot each other, and they learn it from us. Non-violence and compassion is the only way to stop the anger and hate that fuels our actions and to get there we must sacrifice this notion of security with a gun under the pillow (which usually kills us instead of the criminal). Some form of protection is necessary to protect you and your family in a state of total lawlessness – forgive me, but have we not passed that stage in America? Or do you believe that we are still in the “Wild West”. We must start changing our ways as it is obvious the existing ways are not working.

Excellent! perhaps Fox News should have this as their motto. Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

WOW - brilliant - well said Mike

I agree NYC but we also need to be pro-active in the running of the state as Shaffer infers – perhaps now with a new house and senate things may change for the better (they definitively couldn’t get any worse).

In this book there are so many lessons; if only we could learn from them, but we don't, we just make the same mistakes again and again and again - there must be another way?

Indeed, indeed - its the meaning that matters

Love it and so appropriate for today - let's hope the voting machines are not tampered with - If a Princeton University professor can hack into a Dibold in minutes goodness knows what's actually happening in reality. P.s. men in politics not only control the public purse but also law enforcement which means the great ones can get away with .......

I agree totally - and those changes are; proportional representation, campaign finance reform, and voting receipts – unless we have these we are not a true democracy.

wow!

That is the problem, our country is not being governed by reasonable men.

no other words are necessary

Well said Reston - they still don't get it and never will. Let them rise up in some euphoric transcendental rapture - I want to be with the real people on Earth.

E. Acher and EGL well said - are our liberty's, even in the smallest way, effected by the likelihood of us being killed by a car, cigarettes, air travel, drinking, etc. etc? (and, I don't mean car seat belts, and not smoking in public places); yet we are far more likely to be killed in an accident, second hand smoke, food poisoning, and gluttony. Michael your question is by no means a simple one to answer if it were then Nations would be sharing that information. It's time we start thinking out of the box. Obviously going to war against a despot or a megalomaniac may bring peace. But, going to war against terrorists is a different matter – we must start thinking like them, we must understand their root course, we must see what other options are out there to bring about non-violence, we must stop our usual strategy of throwing more and more arms at the problem and deploy sound and well thought out program of reparation and intelligence. We must have diplomatic relations with terrorist organizations; we must start listening instead of shooting. Above all we must stop what we are doing; a good start would be to have a Department of Peace that has as much power as the department of War.

This should be printed on the front page of every news paper and as a precursor to any political statement on TV. We must remain watchful that America remains a democracy and doesn't slip into fascism.

The whole thing is silly - well done ELG. Give me a break, there is no absolute power, period... If there is, he, she, it, God, Jesus, Buddha, Mohamed, sure have a funny sense of humor. Unlimited power to a christian also means killing - just look at their history. There are a few Christians that are truly nice people (like Liberals) but that is rare - like there are a few Republicans (like Liberals) that are really nice people.

In case you didn't know what going on in Iraq is not a jihad its CIVIL WAR and our boys are in the middle getting killed.

I can see the majority of us vote against being a banana republic (four and a half stars) - I just wish the government would behave the same way. With terrorism there is no end to war - a war on this, a war on that, we so easily use the word war when it is really a criminal act. We got so use to war with Iraq when the word Invade should be used. We are so manipulative in our use of certain words – this happens to be one case that the propaganda machine seems to be working. It’s amazing; those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send our soldiers to die for the illegal invasion Iraq. American government has made the world a far more dangerous place today.

I agree, capitalism is not bad if people are honest and fair, unfortunately it spawns greed and that greed is converted in slavery - trust me, Capitalism under its present administration has had its day; as you can see America is crumbling under its own weight – it can no longer sustain its veracious appetite for wealth. We must get back to the basics of life and start to care for those around us and those that are our neighbors. What hypocrites we are when we discuss profit, free trade, and private ownership, and call it capitalism, a Republic, or what… and think/say “I’ve worked hard and I have the right to do what I want” No you don’t; rights are born upon those deserving respect through their compassion and kindness towards their fellow beings and all that surounds them. We usually think of corruption being the purview of third world countries but alas it is ours also – we are probably the richest third world county in the world. We must take back what belongs to the people; when capitalism and greed run bridle-less a new generation of slaves are born.

What a load of gobbledygook

I agree with Mike but for one small correction, delete the word democtratic - Democratic and Oilgarchy is an oxymoron. There is not true reprersenation in America - winner takes all. The essence of this statement deserves five stars.