Wow. {clapclapclap}

That wasn't me you were talking about regarding "those who show up in online forums", was it? (Don't answer that.)

Forget the 22nd Amendment. I'd be deliriously happy to see the 16th and 17th repealed, though I'm not holding my breath.

For those who are unaware (not you, Gerard), the 16th Amendment gave Congress the power to levy a personal income tax, while the 17th allowed for the direct popular election of Senators. Prior to that, Senators were chosen by the state legislatures--which were popularly elected--to represent the state's interest in Washington. (Representatives in the House were always popularly elected.) That's how the Founders intended it, and the passage of the 17th Amendment really drove a stake into the republic the Founders created, and moved us a giant step towards pure democracy; which, as the Founders could have told you, would inevitably degenerate into mob rule.

So, to recap: Now we have Senators elected by popular vote, who can raise taxes on unpopular minorities (businesses, smokers) to pay for whatever redistributive programs the majority wants, and the individual states have practically no representation in Congress.

Oh, and Happy New Year, Gerard.

Thanks. The coming year can't help but be better than the last.

Happy New Year. Thanks for all you gave us this year Gerard. You gave much that was (is) good.

I, myself, started working for the Marine Corps at the end of 2005. I will help the youngsters who have lost control by abusing family members get on track and make the most of their military experience and their lives. Some of these people had never been abusive before serving in Iraq/Afghanistan. This is something I know I can do well.

As a result of this job shift, my pacifist sister won't talk to me, and I have lost some friends. I'm a social worker, after all, and many of us are victimizers and Ultra-Liberal Democrats who think Bush is the epitomy of evil. I am proud to say the social work staff at Camp Pendleton is proud, professional, dedicated and effective. It is remarkable to me to have a colleague who has sat zazen with some of my own teachers and zen friends from long ago. We will sit together now. The rest of us are protesting against the war and Bush.

Bless Us All, Barbara

General agreement, with slight quibbles due to the local peevishness index. As regards to #6, tho...
http://www.rense.com/general54/ssust.htm

It's a weird concept to get your head around, and the eco-movement's worst nightmare.

"America is not far behind with the various endless and draconian anti-smoker laws since America always needs some class to oppress and all the usual suspects have been raised into heaven."

I look forward to the day when cigarette smoke only affects the smoker. I don't care what substances anyone imbibes but I shouldn't have to inbibe it along with them, especially if it makes me sick (and I mean immediate nausea, sinus headache, respiratory problems, not potential cancer) and makes my clothes and hair stink for the next 24 hours.

This is a ridiculous issue to around which to identify oneself as an "oppressed class."

"Good. Now we can get back to speaking to each other in a civil tone in an atmosphere devoid of their poisoning stenches."

Gerard, this essay was well-written and I agree with 90% of it, but I wouldn't call it "civil." Pot, kettle, etc.

Quite obviously and without a doubt, it will take thousands of dead American civilians: men, women and this time our children too.

Hmmm. I used to believe this. I no longer do: this will not be enough for some 10-15% of Americans to understand that there is a war, unless it's the war against Republicans, Bush, "Bushco", or similar. (That percentage would be less significant did it not include 90% or better of those who decide whaat goes into our major media outlets.)

Should this happen in the next three years, it will be the direct result of our fighting back (or "our aggression against the Muslim world"). The reaction will be, not a sudden realization that there is indeed a war on, but a deepening of the conviction that the fascist Bush administration must be stopped by any means necessary. What is now found only in the fevered pages of Salon will become conventional wisdom on the WaPo editorial page.

(If you doubt me, consider the reaction to the mass murder of Iraqis by "Iraqi insurgents". [The multiple lies in that common phrase are also worth contemplating, but that's another story.] Foreigners come into Iraq, kill civilians, saw off people's heads on direct-to-video propaganda movies, target Shia children - CHILDREN! - for bombing, and the response is... outrage at Bush and America, understanding compassion for the murderers, and near-complete obliviousness to the victims.)

These people attacked us. They killed thousands of our people. They strove to kill hundreds of thousands, and might well have succeeded. They have made their intentions and desires plain, in simple words, in authenticated communications, over and over. We're dealing with a population capable of seeing these things, capable of reading that the goal of al Qaeda is to reestablish a Caliphate, to destroy America, and to put the world under the boot of jihadist Islam - and still conclude that all this is a chimera and the real danger is some guy from Texas who's trying to keep a lid on this prospect.

What makes you think seeing 30,000 bodies instead of 3000 will have the slightest impact on the direction of their thinking?

Happy New Year, Gerard!

(The fashion trends to which you refer seem to be peaking here in two-steps-behind Missouri; personally, I've enjoyed The New Punk.)

"The coming year can't help but be better than the last."

They said that about 1916 too.

Its better to be a pessimist. That way you can only be pleasantly surprised.