The Auzi's have made it explicit in Legislation that, "Social Justice and Equality of Opportunity
Reduces the Risks of Sectarian Violence." Us USAians seem hardly aware that we are not only lacking in prevention programs, we are actually importing sectarian violence and home grown terriorism, with our transactions with Terrioristic Networks operating in the Human Social System.

Okay, rla ....

So finally, we are starting from a common point in here ....

We can't just talk about talking rationally ....

We must actually be rational ....

And factual ...

And here we now have a common basis for moving forward in a fact-based rational manner ...

And if you now go back and look at the "legal" definition of LIBERTY from Black's Law Dictionary, you will see that it is quite all-inclusive in the manner that you are talking about above here ...

Since that is the "legal" definition of LIBERTY here in America, to be rational, this further discussion must remain consistent with that definition ....

Or it must show how that definition is now inadequate to these times and the future to come ...

And so ..

So now we are on a path of rational discourse towards some more positive future, rla ...

Regardless of how the USA might have started out, rla ....

Right now, it is a MERCANTILE REPUBLIC ....

MERCANTILE-ISM ....

MIGHT MAKES RIGHT ....

That, rla, is an OPERATIVE MIND-SET ....

To bring the USA back to being anything else, that OPERATIVE MIND-SET must be countered and neutralized ....

But that OPERATIVE MIND-SET also has the lawyers, guns and money to keep it in power ....

And it is not afraid to use VIOLENCE against us to maintain its hold on political power here in America, and out there in the world as well, in places like IRAQINAM and Afghanistnam, which supplies the pure opium that U.S. pharmaceutical companies turn into MORPHINE ....

And so ......

The Republic, Slip-Sliding Away
by Charley Reese

Despite all the blather about democracy, we did not invent it, do not support it and have, during the recent administration, become less democratic than we were before.

We are and always have been too large a country for a true democracy. That's why the Founding Fathers created a republic. In a true democracy, the people would decide practically all the issues. In a republic, the people delegate that power to elected representatives who serve for a fixed term.

A republic is a good form of government provided the people pay attention, fairly judge the performance of their elected officials and boot 'em out of office when they don't cut the mustard. It is a good form of government provided the best people, not the worst, offer themselves to serve in public office.

Our government really does not support democracy, except rhetorically. When the Palestinians had a free and fair election and chose Hamas members to man their government, we refused to recognize the new government. Apparently, the Bush administration's definition of a free election is one that provides the results the president wants.

Most of our "allies" are far from democratic. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states are all authoritarian in one form or another. Ironically, Iran does have an elected government, but there again, it's one Bush doesn't like. Poor Hugo Chavez in Venezuela has been elected and re-elected, but still gets called a tyrant by Bush's step-and-fetch-its. China, which is a stern one-party dictatorship, seems to find our favor.

I'd say that if you are a dictator seeking the favor of the United States, you must offer financial incentives, be a supporter of Israel or volunteer for lap-dog status.

If you dare indicate that you are interested in the welfare of your own people and your own nation, you are likely to end up on the president's bathroom list. This basic rule of foreign policy doesn't seem to change regardless of which party occupies the White House.

It also should be noted that people keep insisting that Iran give up weapons it doesn't have while remaining dead silent about the nuclear weapons Israel does have. If our government were truly interested in nuclear nonproliferation, it would support a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East that includes Israel and would not be making deals to increase the nuclear capability of India.

So, the second rule of American foreign policy is that hypocrisy and expedience trump principles.

Internally, we have become decisively less democratic. The present administration has a bad habit of questioning the patriotism and loyalty of people who disagree with it. It spies on everybody without any judicial restraint. It has riddled the government with partisans who are incompetent. It is the most secretive administration in American history. It lies like a drunken fisherman. It puts people in jail and holds them incommunicado without charges. It tortures people. It is contemptuous of the Constitution and especially of the principle of checks and balances.

Congress is too cowardly to do it, but George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are a lot more likely to deserve impeachment than Bill Clinton was. Clinton lied about his private sexual peccadillos, while the Bush administration seems to lie about everything. Clinton lied to prevent a war with Hillary, while the Bush mob lied to get us into a war in Iraq. A big difference, I'd say.

Thomas Jefferson did not believe that one generation had the right to burden another with debt. Our $9 trillion federal debt is a burden on generations too numerous to count. This is almost as serious a civic sin as lying our way into a war.

We seem to be following the familiar path of history where republics slide into empire and eventually a fascist dictatorship. Too bad that freedom, like a good wife, is most appreciated in its absence.

Maintaining a dynamic Boundary Line is what I mean by maintaining Self-in-situation Adaptation
and the Self-awareness of Being this Person and Maintaining and Presenting (to the ______World),
this Identity in the World--as a Soverign Person in a Sovern Nation--Sanctioned by all Nations
and Admired by many...

Note: The above chunk, my last post, is an example of Skinerian Programed Instruction, where the Reader fills in a blank with a concept previously introduced.

How about a Good Husband or better yet how about Looking at How we Fail to keep Equality
tied to Freedom, in order to guarantee LIBERTY. Liberty, like a Functional Family, a Supportive Community and a Humanitarian Constitutional Representative Democratic Form of Soverign
Nation will slip away unless cared for on a Daily Bases.

Please see my Thread on A Conceptual Model of Personing in the Social System. We need a conceptual model of the Person, which is functional and Additive for talking about Citizens, Students,
Employees, Customers, co-workers, etc. without de-humanizing them (us).

rla ....

WHY?

Why do we need a CONCEPTUAL MODEL?

What on earth is a CONCEPTUAL MODEL going to do for anything at all?

And if I was going to have a CONCEPTUAL MODEL, it would be based upon my own upbringing ....

My upbringing worked for me ....

It continues to work ....

I am not out in the world doing acts of violence ....

I am not robbing from people, or stealing ....

I am not adversely impacting the public's health by poisoning their drinking water .....

My model is a very simple one ....

DON'T DO TO OTHER PEOPLE WHAT YOU DON'T WANT GETTING A DOSE OF BACK!

KNOWLEDGE THROUGH THOROUGHNESS!

BE ALL THAT YOU CAN BE!

What other model is there, rla?

Why would I want or need another model?

Especially at my age now?

And so ...

LIBERTY is slipping away, rla ....

At least up here where I am ....

And there is a part of the problem or trouble in here ....

The USA is HUGE, rla ....

At any given time, any of us can only see and experience a very small part of it ....

You for example are a couple of days drive away, and you are in a different time zone ....

So if I say that LIBERTY is slipping away up here, somebody some place else in the USA might just scoff at the notion ....

Maybe it is ascendent where they are ....

I know that San Francisco is night and day in terms of the HUMAN SPIRIT as compared to here where I am ....

In many ways, I am in active hate with this place where I am in that regard ....

The SMALLNESS of it all up here ....

The CLINGING!

DON'T THINK!

DON'T QUESTION!

JUST DO AS YOU ARE TOLD, OR ELSE!

If I could, I believe that I would relocate to San Francisco, for the LIBERTY and freedom of the human spirit that exists out there ....

But that is a pipe dream ....

If I moved to San Francisco, it would have to be as a homeless person ....

And I am not for taking on that experience at this stage of my life ....

Soooo ....

Here is where I am, and will be for the duration, most likely ....

And there is a good chance that my last years will be spent in a time of GROSS IGNORANCE up here ....

A spiritual DARK AGES ...

No new ideas ....

No creativity ....

Creativity is looked upon with suspicion up here .....

As is honesty and integrity ...

Those are actively punished ...

And so ...

An excellent article for this thread, Snuf ....

Thanks as always for posting it in here ....

It serves as a necessary backdrop to all of the philosophy ...

And musing ....

If you don't know what you got, how will you know that you have lost it?

If you don't know what you have, how can you improve upon it?

And so ...

Every one has a conceptual model of what is a person and they always apply it when they think or talk about persons. Awareness is expanded in the process of making explicit what this model is.
What assumptions you make about the nature of human nature and how you and other persons
operate.

A person is a multitude of things, rla ....

A spectrum ...

Many of those things are harmful, vicious and destructive ....

Many people revel in being harmful and destructive ....

They enjoy inflicting pain on others ...

They are sadists ....

Should we embrace them, rla?

Give them a good hug?

This morning up here, on the news, it was said that some local school official is now in BIG TROUBLE for calling some troublemakers "troublemakers" ....

That is a long way away from when I was young and teachers could not only call dunces "dunces", they could make them sit on a chair up front facing the wall and wearing a dunce's cap so that everyone else in the class could get a good look at what a dunce looked like ...

And so ...

George W.'s War

No one likes war. War is a horrific affair, bloody and expensive. Sending our men and women into battle to perhaps die or be maimed is an unconscionable thought.


Yet some wars need to be waged, and someone needs to lead. The citizenry and Congress are often ambivalent or largely opposed to any given war. It's up to our leader to convince them. That's why we call the leader "Commander in Chief."


George W.'s war was no different. There was lots of resistance to it. Many in Congress were vehemently against the idea. The Commander in Chief had to lobby for legislative approval.


Along with supporters, George W. used the force of his convictions, the power of his title and every ounce of moral suasion he could muster to rally support. He had to assure Congress and the public that the war was morally justified, winnable and affordable.


Congress eventually came around and voted overwhelmingly to wage war.

George W. then lobbied foreign governments for support. But in the end, only one European nation helped us. The rest of the world sat on its hands and watched.


After a few quick victories, things started to go bad. There were many dark days when all the news was discouraging. Casualties began to mount. It became obvious that our forces were too small. Congress began to drag its feet about funding the effort.


Many who had voted to support the war just a few years earlier were beginning to speak against it and accuse the Commander in Chief of misleading them. Many critics began to call him incompetent, an idiot and even a liar. Journalists joined the negative chorus with a vengeance.


As the war entered its fourth year, the public began to grow weary of the conflict and the casualties. George W.'s popularity plummeted. Yet through it all, he stood firm, supporting the troops and endorsing the struggle.


Without his unwavering support, the war would have surely ended, then and there, in overwhelming and total defeat.

At this darkest of times, he began to make some changes. More troops were added and trained. Some advisers were shuffled, and new generals installed.


Then, unexpectedly and gradually, things began to improve. Now it was the enemy that appeared to be growing weary of the lengthy conflict and losing support. Victories began to come, and hope returned.


Many critics in Congress and the press said the improvements were just George W.'s good luck. The progress, they said, would be temporary. He knew, however, that in warfare good fortune counts.


Then, in the unlikeliest of circumstances and perhaps the most historic example of military luck, the enemy blundered and was resoundingly defeated. After six long years of war, the Commander in Chief basked in a most hard-fought victory.


So on that historic day, Oct. 19, 1781, in a place called Yorktown , a satisfied George Washington sat upon his beautiful white horse and accepted the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, effectively ending the Revolutionary War.

With respect to CONCEPTUAL MODELS for persons who are over 18 years of age in the State of New York where I am doing my "personing" as a citizen, rla ...

These following are from the PURPOSES of the New York State Penal Law ....

As someone up here who is over 18 years of age himself, I have adopted these into my REAL-LIFE CONCEPTUAL MODEL when I think or talk about some other persons doing their personing in our society up here ...

And so ...

§ 1.05 General purposes.

The general purposes of the provisions of this chapter are:

1. To proscribe conduct which unjustifiably and inexcusably causes or threatens substantial harm to individual or public interests;

2. To give fair warning of the nature of the conduct proscribed and of the sentences authorized upon conviction;

3. To define the act or omission and the accompanying mental state which constitute each offense;

4. To differentiate on reasonable grounds between serious and minor offenses and to prescribe proportionate penalties therefor;

5. To provide for an appropriate public response to particular offenses, including consideration of the consequences of the offense for the victim, including the victim's family, and the community; and

6. To insure the public safety by preventing the commission of offenses through the deterrent influence of the sentences authorized, the rehabilitation of those convicted, the promotion of their successful and productive reentry and reintegration into society, and their confinement when required in the interests of public protection.

end quotes

You wish for an enlightened society where this is all unnecessary is my thought, rla ....

What you call a humanistic society might not need these things ....

But they presently exist because we don't have a totally humanistic society ....

And so ...

Good to see you, Marine ...

You've got it pretty much how I've got it, Marine ...

We could quibble a bit, here and there, but in essence, you got it pretty much as it was ...

I one time spoke to an Army bird colonel up here who had been stationed at West Point as an instructor ...

He was originally from Mississippi ...

I got to talking about how being stationed at West Point had literally put him back in the time and place of a lot of the founding of the U.S. Army way back when ....

He was totally ignorant of any of that Revolutionary War history, Marine ....

He had never learned it ....

He knew nothing of what you are talking about above here, if you can believe that ....

He knew nothing about the Southern Campaign, and how nip-and-tuck things were for awhile ....

The cowardly "Granny" Gates and his ride to safety, abandoning his troops along the way ....

If it was up to "Granny" Gates alone, we would have been whipped at Saratoga ...

This colonel was unfamiliar with General Nathanial Greene and his strategy against the British down south before the final victory at Yorktown ...

He was unaware of Banastre Tarleton and his dragoons and how they almost captured Tom Jefferson at Monticello in Virginia ...

The New York State Constitution gives thanks to God for our freedom up here ....

When you think about it, maybe it makes sense to say that in light of what you are saying above here ...

When I was young, before the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down as being UNLAWFUL here in the U.S., we used to have a moment of silent prayer of thankfulness that things did go as they went back then, when things were so precarious ....

That moment of silence served to help make me who I am today ....

A disabled combat veteran living in a greedy nation that doesn't seem to be thankful for anything ...

Everytime it gets something, it just wants more and more ....

How does a Texas boy end up knowing this history when a full-bird colonel in the Army didn't, Marine?

And so ...

Well Junior, I must be getting old. 13 days in the field kicked my butt. I bet you'd think 13 days doing 14 to 16 hours a work a day, no time off but to sleep and eat would a been a piece of cake from your experience in the Army. But I'd remind you that was close to 40 years ago for you and us old farts have slowed down a bit. Did you know almost all the MREs are really pretty tasty? And somebody ask the Grunts about which condiments to pack with them too, everyone of them come with a little bottle of Tabasco sauce so I had no need to use my own. And washing a uniform in a five gallon plastic pail hasn't changed a bit, every other day I was up at 0400 scrubbing socks, skivies, and BDUs. What's changed is they got a product out now called Fabreeze which makes you smell good even if you'd be reeking otherwise.

The Army Staff Sergeant working for me was a real go getter and knew only one speed which was flat out do it as fast as you can get er done. It was all this old fart could do to keep up with him. But he was 35 and I'm 57. 20 years ago I'd been running right next to him telling him to hurry up.

We didn't have the manpower to do the radio net I envisioned but the satelites worked just fine; but I'm old fashioned and believe in redundancy. Technology is marvellous but old radiomen got a saying; "if it don't glow in the dark it ain't a real radio".

This operation went off like a text book example without the slightest hitch. I got two commendations, one from a Maj Gen for exceptional duty and performance and a second from the Colonel task force commander which read for excellence in performance. But I'm not happy and see a need for improvement. Back to redundancy, if that satelite had failed my name would a been mud so I'm going to identify the manpower who I can utilyse to set up a backup radio net for the next time someting like this happens.

We had a tornado hit about half a mile from us and I was sweating bullets about losing my satelite dishes. Got to do that radio net.

Naw, Marine, you're not getting old at all, just more mature ....

Hell, an old farm boy like you, 13 days like that should have been a cakewalk ....

And at 57, you're still a pup ...

Being a grunt was 24/7 ....

You had your day job, and then, when you finished your day job, you had your night job to do ....

When you got done with the night job, your day job beckoned ...

Friday meant that there were only 2 more working days until Monday ...

Sleep was something that you dreamed about getting ...

And we didn't have any fancy stuff to cover up the fact that we did stink to high heaven ....

Nor extra water in the dry season to wash anything with ....

Not the leg infantry, anyway ....

The mech boys could carry jerry cans of it with them in their tracks, but that was them ...

I have had some MRE's and yes, they aren't bad at all ....

Up a notch from C-rats, anyway ....

We used to heat our C-rats in the field with a little chunk of C-4, which burns pretty hot, when we had some of it ...

We would make a base out of those tins the crackers came in ...

Field expedient methods ....

One time I opened up a can of C-rat beef and potatoes and I saw what looked like the nicest big white potatoe in there, and I scooped that right into my mouth only to discover when it got in there that it was a great big lump of pure grease ...

The stuff that memories are made out of, Marine ....

Glad you got back safe and sound ....

No snake bites or scorpian bites or tarantula bites, it sounds like ....

Which is good ...

And as to the commendations, Marine, sincere congratulations ...

But then you are a professional ...

Ain't got time to do it right don't work in a combat environment ...

And if you don't have commo and can't communicate, you just might end up dead ...

And so ...

Excessive dependence on fancy technology out in the field makes men weak, Marine ...

Not that technology is a necessarily bad thing ....

It is the dependence on it that is ....

Especially when accompanied by a belief that it is fail-safe ...

And when you don't have or don't know of a fall-back position ....

Like you say, that tornado didn't give a tinker's damn about the training schedule ...

And so ...

Cute!

But the analogy breaks down in this way. The war fought by George Washington was an insurgency. The wars started by the Shrub have become counter-insurgencies.

Teaching people what not to do and why not is a necessary part of the Socialization and Enculturation Process. It is necessary but not sufficient for acquiring Personing Concepts and Skills.
Proactive Interventions for Community Development which Improve Social Justice and Equal Opportunity, Linked to better Health Care, better Education and Training and better Human Services
is also necessary. In a World of perfect families in perfect communities, all the necessary learning
would have occured incidently through modeling and Facilitative systems of Reinforcement. Most
of us were not that fortunate. However Rehab works and your Behavior won't Change until you Change Your Behavior.

The problem I see is How to integrate Democracy, Technocracy and Merriotocracy? Or
From whence comes Unity? Is it the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost? Or is it the Actor,
the Re-Actor and the Observer(your Self)? Or is our Unity of Purpose:Peace, Prosperity and
Wellness? It is most important that One always be aware that it is I, acting as technician who is
doing the tinkering. Everything perceived is effected and affected by the Perceiver (the Quantum
assumption).

... a bedtime story for children age 3-5, aseptisized, glorified and obfuscated by Marine.



War is the result when an aggressive nation, interested in quick profits and generally lacking creativity, imagination and empathy, attempts to impose by force, destruction, death and terror, it's will over another nation, to grab it's land, or resources, or some strategic asset, or to exercise a forceful control over the attacked nation, as to make it serve the interests of the forceful nation, and when the attacked nation decides to retaliate with the objective to either destroy or disable the attacking force to render it harmless, or to discourage the attacking force from pursuing it's effort, before convincing the attacking force, whether through a counter war or diplomacy, to surrender any gains made at the expense of the attacked nation, and eventually to compensate the damage caused by the attacking nation.

From the forceful nation's point of view, sending men and women to attack and kill other people, or convice them to risk their limbs and lives for an objective, that in ***ALL*** cases short of resisting imminent extermination, does not improve these people's daily conditions of life, except those winning privileges from their rank in the chain of command, from this forceful nation's poibnt of view, people are a cheap, expendable commodity, easy to deceive, to achieve domestic economical or political gains, or to reach a specific status among all the parties in the world.

From the attacked nation's viewpoint, short of correctly assessing, and informing the people of the attacker's motivations and formal demands, the first duty of the attacked nation's leadership is to execute defensive operations following prepared plans in an attempt to disable the attacking forces, provided the nature of the attack is correctly assessed and provided defense plans correctly addresses the kind of the attack.

Eventually these plans involve men and women and include major risks to their lives to achieve the objectives of these plans. Short of addressing the nature of the attack, the attacked nation's leadership duty is, in recognition of the infinite value of it's people lives, and to guarantee the nation it's constituency, namely it's people, to inform them of the failure of the initial defense plans, and open negotiations with the attacking nation.

On recognizing it's incapacity to defend the people it serves, either through defensive operations or negotiations, the leadership's final duty, before finally resigning in light of it's failure, is to inform the people that they are left with the choice of attempting to survive the hazards of warfare as civilians throughout the outcome of the war, including the risk of enslavement and extermination, or to join any resistance movement and deny the attacking nation any of it's wrongfully confiscated gains to raise the cost of waging war to levels far greater than any gains that can be won throuigh negotiations.


The President of the US is called "Commander-in-Chief" because he is given the responsibility to carry out the decisions made by Congress, representative of the People.
The decision to wage war is the sole decision of Congress, in accordance with the USC, and *all* treaties that are to be considered as law of the land.

The President remains in all times subordinated to Congress.


George W Bush has repetitively initimidated, lied to, coerced and corrupted members of Congress into granting him unconstitutional powers and to renounce to carry on it's duty to indict the POTUS for his criminal acts.

George W Bush has repetitively lied to the People, through the use of pompous metaphors, with the criminal assistance of Congress that renounced it's duty to investigate and prosecute George W Bush constitutional crimes, it's duty to request unambiguous replies to it's questions, it's duty to duely and accurately inform the People of the POTUS violations of the Constitution, and it's duty to denounce and sanction the POTUS systematic obfuscation of his reports to Congress and to the People.

Congress is directly responsible for the Nation's state of bankruptcy.

Congress is directly responsible in waging wars of aggression on foreign nations by renouncing to call the POTUS to comply to the US constitution.
Both the POTUS and Congress have broken their oaths by failing to comply and support the US constitution.
Both the POTUS and Congress are directly responsible for the shattering of the constituency, namely the destruction of the nation.




As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering, also, that timely disbursements, to prepare for danger, frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions, in time of peace, to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. . . .

Towards the preservation of your Government and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only, that you steadily discountenance irregular opposition to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretext. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system; and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. . . . .

It is important likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those intrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department, to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power and proneness to abuse it, which predominate in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position.

The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasion of the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield. . . .

General George Washington, Farewell Address, September 17, 1796.

The most likely Foundation, from a standpoint of Ontology, on which to build a philosophy, on which to build an Ideology, supportive of a Humanitarian, Constitutional, Democratic, Representative
Republic with an Open Market Economy...the most likely Foundation is the common ordinary transactions going on between and among persons at Multiple Levels across Multiple Domains.
Watch your Mouth, Literally Means Count your Words if you want to understand where you and your group came from and where we are all going...(Note: much of what I am talking is a re-statement
and further elaboration of What Kelly published in his Psychology of Personal Constructs many
years ago and has been incorporated into many Information Processing Models of Human Personality
Theory and of major Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy).

Let the Government be all it can be at its best to serve all of us in Honesty and in Competence. Let
those in Government be liberated from all traditional sources of Authority and totally commited to
the equal soverignity of each Person as Guaranteed by the US Constitution, its Amendments and
and its Enabling Legislation and Regulations and Foreign Treaties.

Thanks for stepping up to the plate here, Istoodforu, to hit this MEATBALL PITCH by Marine back out of the park ....

The war fought by George Washington was in fact a WAR OF INDEPENDENCE from tyranny, or as you call it, an insurgency ....

Where the term "INSURGENCY" implies an uprising against a legally constituted authority ....

It could be argued that after the 1776 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, the King of England was no longer the legally constituted authority here in the "united" states of America, but since that argument cannot be proven definitively, I'll walk on by it right now in here ...

Clearly, however, as you say, George W. Bush is not fighting any wars ...

HE IS WAGING AGGRESSIVE WAR, INSTEAD ....

WHAT GEORGE W. BUSH IS DOING IN IRAQINAM IS IMPOSING TYRANNY ....

George W. Bush is like George III of England; not George Washington of the United States of America ....

There's miles and miles of difference between the two of them ....

George Washington could rightly be called the first AMERICAN PRESIDENT ....

While George W. Bush could easily be called the FIRST UN-AMERICAN PRESIDENT ....

And so ...

COGENT: presented in a way that brings out pertinent and fundamental points ...

- Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary

Very powerful words and very pertinent to this present discussion, picadilly ...

Thanks for posting them in here at this time ....

You really gave Marine some good "schooling" there ....

CLASS IS IN SESSION, Marine ....

Sit up straight and pay attention!

You take me right on back to my kindergarten days, picadilly, with your exposition above here ....

You would make a good citizenship instructor in our early-school system here in the USA ....

A good kindergarten teacher, in fact ....

"NOW TAKE YOUR THUMBS OUT OF YOUR MOUTHS AND LISTEN UP!"

"YOU ARE NOT HERE TO FOOL AROUND!'

"YOU ARE HERE TO LEARN SOMETHING ..."

And so ...

Another name for this is Coercive Diplomacy. Even in the politist company of Nations we
have no vocabulary for communicating except Big Carrots and Big Sticks (Bribes and the Threat of_______War).

Do nations then die, rla, when the IDEAS on which they act are no longer relevant or acceptable or actualizable?

What happens to nations when their carrot has been eaten down to a nub, and their stick is found to be nothing but a dry, easily-breakable twig?

A much more Human Relations, Marketing and Mutual Self-Help Program is desired and
Cost-effective for Relating to the Other Soverign Nations of the World? This has been asked for,
enough Times and is now being demanded by all Registered to vote Citizens of all States of
the USA...This is the Mantra of the Citizen Person...I Love Myself as imperfect as I am, and
Appreciate, my Place through Time and I am Excited about the Possibilities of Multiple Strategies
for a Singular Purpose, of creating a multitude of creative, Non-violent, Tactics for Community Development and Nation Development--Ours First and then Consultative Assistance to Other
Nations, Regional and International Councils.

We turn the Page and Start a new Narrative and remind ourselves 30 times the first day,
reducing 5 times per day, untill reaching a constant of 5 times per day that, "Yes We Can!"

You are a hopeful person, rla ...

Both Gore and Kerry failed to extrapolate from the campaign slogan, "Its the Economy, stupid,"
to, "Its the Culture, stupid," Our Lack of Cultural Competence has wrecked our National Security
and our National and much of the International Economy. We need more than a second language,
we need to be more multi-cultural and rekindle our intewrest in the Arts and Sciences. Now there will be some who say that is an elite vision of our national goals and I say, "Fu** them...

Well ....

That is blunt and to the point, rla ....

And perhaps it is Ciceronian, as well ....

Cicero talks about the need for an orator to be versed in the humanities ....

That was in Rome a bit over 2,000 years ago ....

Knowledge through thoroughness, rla ...

And so ...

Politicians like Gore and Kerry pander too much, rla ....

They pander to "statistical groupings" of the population spectrum, trying for votes ....

They don't lead in any sense of the word .....

The last who I think did that in any significant way was JFK who seemed to challenge people to be more than they were ...

To grow as persons ...

It's been a decidedly downhill run since he got shot in the head ....

Which is perhaps a fitting metaphor ....

It was JFK's brain that was the threat ....

So it was destroyed ....

Now we have a witless donkey in there whose brain stops at his brain stem ....

Beyond his reptilian brain, there is nothing else inside George W. Bush's head ....

His thinking is done with his "gut" ....

And so ...

"Raising a call for aid to states - Paterson uses visit to Washington to urge Congress to help avoid national crisis"

By JENNIFER A. DLOUHY, Washington bureau, Albany, New York Times Union

First published: Friday, August 1, 2008

WASHINGTON -- In his first major national speech since taking office four months ago, New York Gov. David Paterson on Thursday implored Congress to send more federal money to states facing budget woes or else risk a "national crisis of bankruptcy."

The governor specifically asked for federal dollars to build a high-speed rail system between Albany and New York City.

Paterson's comments in an address to the National Press Club continued his recent warnings that soft economic conditions in New York could mean a hiring freeze in the state's work force and cuts in services.

The nation's financial situation "is the most severe economic challenge to America since the Depression," Paterson told an audience of reporters, lobbyists and lawmakers.

The only solution, he said, was quick action by states and the federal government to curb spending -- while, at the same time making "targeted" investments in infrastructure.

Paring down now might prevent more devastating cutbacks later, Paterson said.

New York state is facing a $6.4 billion budget deficit in fiscal 2009.

The economy was also the focus during a reception that Paterson and New York's congressional delegation attended Wednesday night on Capitol Hill.

In the gathering with New York lawmakers, Paterson pressed for more federal funds for the low-income home heating program.

On Thursday, Paterson used his hourlong address at the National Press Club to chide federal leaders for what he called "the inability of our country to invest in the states that comprise it."

He also called on lawmakers to help narrow the divide between what New York residents pay in federal taxes and the amount they get in return through federal grants and other spending.

Paterson said the shortfall is $62 billion annually.

In particular, Paterson pressed the federal government to spend more money investing in infrastructure, such as wastewater facilities and roads.

"The federal government is going to have to put more into the states that support it before we have a national crisis of bankruptcy and further fiscal insolvency," Paterson said.

Governor Paterson, with all due Respect and with eager accommodation, I urge you not to continue the grab bag approach to Resource Distribution. Though grounded in tradition, it is contrary to the
New Approach to politics being advocated by Senator Obama's Campaign for Leader of the Democratic Party and Confirmation, from the Party, for his Candidacy for President of these
United and un-divisable States of America. Senator Obama is ready to Lead and appears to have
an Open Road to the White House. What the Nation needs your Help with developing, Gov. Paterson,
is How can the States and the National Democratic Republic provide each other Mutual Consultation
for Guaranteeing the Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship, in your State and our Country-as-a-whole--What do we all have in common that needs protecting, Gov. Paterson? Could it be Social
Justice and equality of opportunity that needs protecting. We need you, Governor Paterson to tell
us Feds how to ring 20% reduction in corruption and incompetence per year for the next three years,
out of our Community-State-Federal Partnership. We need to make the system more Person-centered, Community-based and State and Federally Guaranteed. Thank you Gov. Paterson. You are
in many, many ways an admirable Role Model.

A patriotic appeal, rla ....

We are NOT a democracy;

"[D]emocracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy, such an anarchy that every man will do what is right in his own eyes and no man's life or property or reputation or liberty will be secure, and every one of these will soon mould itself into a system of subordination of all the moral virtues and intellectual abilities, all the powers of wealth, beauty, wit and science, to the wanton pleasures, the capricious will, and the execrable cruelty of one or a very few."

- John Adams,

An Essay on Man's Lust for Power, 29 August 1763

REPUBLIC: A COMMONWEALTH ....

That form of government in which the administration of affairs is open to ALL the citizens ...

COMMONWEALTH: It generally designates a republican frame of government - ONE IN WHICH THE WELFARE AND RIGHTS OF THE ENTIRE MASS OF PEOPLE ARE THE MAIN CONSIDERATION, rather than the privileges of a CLASS or the will of a monarch ...

- Black's Law Dictionary

There seems to be a popular notion that the United States is a democracy.

This notion of a democracy is FALSE.

For it is specifically shown in The Federalist Papers, that a democracy is abhorrent to the Framers Intentions.

It is demonstrated, in The Federalist, how a democracy could easily subvert the Principles laid out, by a simple majority vote.

The Framers Intentions were for a Constitutional Republican form of government.

With each state Constituted under the Federal, to form a Union.

The body of the Union being the states, and the head being the federal.

The objective was for the RULE of LAW, based upon Principles designed to bind the Union together.

The United States of America has a form of government in which the Peoples representives are elected by Popular democratic vote.

The United States Constitution with the attached Amendments, IS The RULE of LAW for Our Country.

And ALL levels of government and We The People are BOUND by the aforementioned RULE of LAW without exception.

Every state that joined the Union, AGREED to be BOUND by this RULE of LAW - The Constitution of The United STATES of America.

The merit of our Constitution was, not that it promotes democracy, but checks it.

- Horatio Seymour, Governor of New York in 1863 to 1864.

John Adams was a man of his time and place and one that earned my respect...exemplifying
Conservative, in the best and purest form of a Statesman--being sufficiently liberated from
traditional sources of Authority and sufficiently committed to the common good to help lead the Revolution and still be able to exercize rightful restraint on Jefferson's more democratic and
bottoms-up way of perceiving/conceiving what was going on...emergent evolution and entropy have
a dynamic multiplier effect of two opposing forces maintaining a dynamic equilibrium, through time, across space with varying levels of understanding among the aggregate of Minds in this cohort Group of participant observers.

Out here in the real candid world, where the worms ate half the leaves off one of my two tomato plants before I noticed...the Bible says there will always be War. I think that is an unfortunate
Self-fulfilling Prophecy that needs to be debunked...another domain is that of making an absolute distinction between Democracy and Republic as forms of government, rather than treating them
as the ends of a continumn. In the real candid world any particular government/social system, at
a particular time and place would likely be some combination of the two. Similarly to the breathing in and breathing out (Ying & Yang) of balancing Liberalism and Conservativism...

As a follow-up to the above, the reader and especially Livyjr, is refered to a my last post on the Information Processing Model of Personing Thread...

Speaking of Participant Observers, this concept well describes the more abstract & general concept of,"Existential Existence." and is also based on the construct of an Actor, a Re-Actor and an Observer, in the same Person, being at three different places at the same Time. This is what I understan Zen to mean by, "Being"...It is a process of maintaining Unity...It is being centered...it
is participating in a perpetual quantum leap...happily...and completly undeserved...

Follow this dime
A vast machinery built for the US's protection has been re-engineered into a device for its exploitation, with the workings of the free market boring ever deeper into the tissues of the state. This is the essence of Washington's past eight years, and one of the true marvels of history: democracy buried beneath an avalanche of money. - Thomas Frank (Aug 5, '08)

I don't have a lot of respect for Tom Jefferson as a person, rla ....

He lacked fiscal discipline ....

He was always in debt, and always buying more, whether he could afford it or not, so he was always getting further into debt ....

PROFLIGATE ....

When I think of Jefferson, that is what I think of - PROFLIGACY ....

I don't respect PROFLIGACY, rla .....

I certainly don't encourage it in young people ....

Maybe its because being up here where it's cold makes one dour ...

Whatever, I am more for the example of fiscal restraint that Adams exemplified ....

And so ...

Or, How do We get from Here to There?