lol its a political bandwagon :P of sorts >___>;

Getting a year older...

XDXDXD Thats a good one, who would you vote for?

The donkey of course. (Yes, its a double entendre.)

XDXDXD

I very much fear the president the United States most needs would be prevented by Congress, the Pentagon, the CIA, the judiciary, and every other political institution from doing what needs to be. I don't think the US is in the state it is just because of one way-ward president, but because of fundamental flaws in the direction it took after the neo-con revolution.

The recently-deceased William F Buckley would have agreed with you there, I believe. Of late he'd become very much disturbed at the course the Neo-Con movement, which he himself had pioneered almost half a century ago, has taken over the past decade or so, and said so. I think it's time to give it a rest and try something else, something less toxic to the system anyhow.

One of the ironies of history is how yesterday's conservatives have become today's liberals.

Of course, it's all relative in politics. By conservative I mean in the sense of the adjective, to be resistant to or cautious about change. I considered myself conservative after a fashion, once. But Conservative is a political stance, and in the last thirty years it has been anything but conservative, but rather an extreme and radical movement to reverse decades of reform, place certain groups (such as the oil industry, the military, and the evangelicals) in power, and create an imaginary utopia based on a complex formula of lies, prejudice, and ignorance. Buckley wouldn't be the first one to wake up and realize the dawning day he had helped bring into being wasn't the one he wanted to see.

I recall when Barry Goldwater ran against Lydon B. Johnson, and was successfully portrayed by the Democrats as a right wing lunatic who would plunge the world into nuclear war. Thirty years later, Goldwater was denouncing the right wing Republicans, and saying that any right thinking American would kick those jackasses in the patootie. From conservative to liberal in my lifetime!

*sigh* I hope that doesn't mean that tomorrow's "conservatives" will be organizing goose-stepping, blackshirt rallies to burn books...

I rather think Goldwater was a better man, and would have made a better president (but who knows now?) than Johnson. LBJ was one of those characters who felt that the end justified ANY means, no matter how excessive (like throwing more bombs at North Vietnam than the US dropped on both Nazi Germany and Japan during WWII, and look how well that worked). He also had no class - having visiting foreign diplomats call on him while sitting on the toilet - "Welll, hello, Habeeb - erh, wait a minute" - #grunt# #splash#. I somehow can't see Goldwater behaving like that. Alas, the future that was not to be.

While LBJ wasn't the worst of presidents, it wouldn't tax the imagination to picture Goldwater as the better candidate. It turned out LBJ was hawkish enough even for a Republican.

Very cute piece

Although concerning this year's election, I have the impression I should have represented the Republicans with the other end of the donkey.

I just said I like your work. Don't alienate a new fan.

With all due respect to a habitual Republican voter, I don't think the current ticket lives up to the standards of previous running mates. Admittedly, you have to go all the way back to Eisnehower before you find a Republican president I like. But though he was paranoid and seriously stressed the constitution, one thing you can't say about Nixon is that he was stupid. If had been a secure personality with respect for the law, he might have been a great president. Bush Sr.? I didn't like his pro-business stance nor his support for the continued dismantling of government oversight, but I never had contempt for him.

Rather than belabour the point, I'll just stop here.