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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (86757)	12/13/2000 10:26:50 AM
From: Mike M2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

X, dictatorships are maintained and destroyed by military force. Are you familiar with the atrocities that the Russians and Germans committed against civilians or the Japanese against the Koreans and Chinese civilians? The point is that the military can be used for evil or to destroy evil. The real dangers lie with our leaders and a central government that is not accountable to the people. You dismiss the risk to the military as a little emotional appeal but it comes from a profound sense of respect and gratitude of veterans and all they have sacrificed. Your attitude is quite revealing. Mike

To: epicure who wrote (86757)	12/13/2000 10:33:31 AM
From: Don Lloyd	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

X - How are dictatorships maintained? Military force. My plan would be difficult to implement, but the reasons for it are far from absurd. Either you do not understand the dangers of military power or you do not care about the dangers of military power. Either way, I can't say your little emotional appeal about men and women whose lives are in the politician's hands is a very rational argument against the very real problems of military power in a democratic country. What you say may well be true in general, but in no significant way applies to modern America, although, of course, it might apply sometime in an extended future. Rather the actual current risks come from an unaccountable executive, operating with politicized and corrupt executive branch departments, bureaucrats and regulators. It is the loss of economic freedom and property rights that is the largest problem. The primary actual risk of the application of force comes from the Federal police functions, including the FBI, BATF, DEA, INS, Border Patrol, and the Secret Service. Worse is the co-operation between the highly corrupted local law enforcement organizations all across the country, and the DEA, for example. Regards, Don