>On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 20:07:36 -0500 Larry Howe > > > You're right. I have nothing but contempt for George Bush. As an >> American, I can harbor no other feeling for the man who killed >> democracy in December 2000, violated our trusted position in the >> world >> by launching an invasion on false pretenses in 2003, and is >> attempting >> to turn the American economy upside down by giving the rich a free >> ride >> on the infrastructure that they are obligated to pay for, since >> it's >> that infrastructure that enables their wealth. I've heard no >> arguments > > to convince me to think otherwise. > >Somehow that doesn't surprise me. > >I said at the beginning that this issue should be off list. But I must >admit that I do find it entertaining to observe the hysterical screeching >from the hard left when the President prevails, time after time after >time, against all their expectations. > >D I'm guessing that you wouldn't know the hard left if Joe Frazier hit you with one. 9/11 gave Bush a chance to put forward a very reactionary agenda. He has not missed his chance, but to say that concerns about the economy, America's thuggish world status, and democratic well-being are held only by hysterical extremists is McCarthyistic blather. And now, before I run completely afoul of the spirit of this list, some Twain content: "Man is the only Patriot. He sets himself apart in his own country, under his own flag, and sneers at other nations, and keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy expense to grab slices of other people's countries." Mark Twain - "The Lowest Animal," Letters from the Earth, pp.226-227 (also pp.207 The Quotable Mark Twain - The Mysterious Arkent) Barry Crimmins