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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PROLIFE who wrote (643511)	10/12/2004 10:27:32 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

You are LYING again. I have NEVER claimed that. I challenge you to back up your statement, or to be man enough to admit your lie.

To: PROLIFE who wrote (643511)	10/13/2004 3:35:20 AM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769670

COMMENT: The Nation: Right or Wrong? Dear A-Letter Reader: Columnist George Will says a newly published assessment of conservatism in America, 'The Right Nation,' is 'the best political book in years.' He liked it because it shows how 'conservative power derives from two sources; its congruence with American values, especially the nation's anomalous religiosity, and the elaborate infrastructure of think tanks and other institutions that stresses that congruence.' In the book ,the authors, Micklethwait and Wooldridge, endorse Sir Lewis Namier's doctrine: 'What matters most about political ideas is the underlying emotions, the music to which ideas are a mere libretto, often of very inferior quality.' Will thinks that in the US 'the emotions underlying conservatism's long rise include a visceral individualism with religious roots and anti- statist consequences.' I wish I could concur with Will's assessment; I wish that I could believe that most Americans are still assertive individualists opposed to big government. Perhaps they are in a general sort of way; but when it comes to specific acts by government that relentlessly chip away at our liberties, most people seem unaware at best, indifferent or agreeable at worst. In the last few days, the US Congress, supposedly controlled by 'conservatives,' has slipped through what could become a national ID system -- 'Your papers, please!' There is now an unofficial US list of 20,000+ people who are barred from flying on airplanes -- but no one knows why the names are there and there is no way to appeal this blatant blacklisting. This is reality in a supposedly 'conservative' America. Then there is the infamous PATRIOT Act. Meanwhile, the US government is pressuring some foreign banks to drop selected offshore banks and whole nations from banking services, under pain of losing access to the US banking system. These high handed demands are based on 'allegations' - not on proof of any wrong doing. I repeat what has now become a familiar mantra. The normal due process of US courts is replaced by faceless bureaucrats who decide whose funds will be grabbed, based on secret investigations. We're supposed to accept a government press statement in lieu of a jury trial and a judicial decision. And yet the 'news' media covers all this as if it were the weather report. No questions asked, no discussion of the shredding of the very important legal protection of due process. If this is what 'the right nation' has come to, it's the wrong America for me. That's the way that it looks from here. BOB BAUMAN, Editor --- Sovereign Society COMMENT LINKS: * George Will on 'The Right Nation.' LINK: townhall.com * Congress may set rules for driver's licenses; national ID? LINK: nytimes.com * 20,000 names; faulty U.S 'No-Fly' system detailed. LINK: washingtonpost.com * ABN Amro cuts off scores of banks. LINKS: money.cnn.com ==================================================