To: Sidney Reilly who wrote (5334 ) 2/17/2004 8:03:00 AM From: Rock_nj Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 20039 Although electing John Kerry President isn't a panacea, it will go a long way towards ended this slippery slide towards facism that started under Ronald Reagan (a watershed election in American history that set in motion many of the problems we are dealing with today) and has continued for nearly 3 decades, with perhaps a brief interlude when Clinton was President (but how much was Clinton able to accomplish after the facists took over Congress in 1994?). Democracy is nearly dead in America (at least on the federal level), and as Ray pointed out, 90% of the dumb masses actually support these anti-democratic policies. I mean the top 1% or 5% is just that, they don't have the numbers to elect the Republicans in any large way, they need the foolish 90% masses to vote their way (which happens all the time due to intense propaganda efforts like the orchestrated 9/11 attacks and other scare tactics). Which is why it's important for intellectuals like us to fight the powers that be. I know there's only so much we can do, but every little bit helps. Probably the best thing we could do at this point is to try to support an alternative economy that doesn't rely on petroleum. Imagine what would happen to the RepubliCONs power if suddenly people didn't have to support their inane Middle-Eastern oil policies. There are alternatives to the mainstream economy, alternatively fueled cars, alternatively powered homes, alternative medicine, home grown or organic food, barter instead of buying things outright. There are ways in which each and every one of us can make our small impact on society. Getting rid of the Bush cartel would be a huge step in the right direction, but certainly isn't the answer to all of our problems. Amazing how much is riding on this election. If Bush is re-elected we can pretty much kiss American democracy goodbye. Kerry might at least give us a fighting chance to hold on to some semblence of Democracy. It would be interesting to see what a Kerry adminstration uncovers about the wrongdoing by the current Bush administration. Hmmm...