"Americans are beginning to be turned off by character assassination, hypocritical rhetoric and the politics of fear and distortion"? Is this guy kidding? This has been the stock in trade for the Republicans since Nixon! And Americans, particularly North Carolinians, seem to lap it up like mother's milk.

The fact is that the neo-cons, with their "New American Century" plans to make us some sort of "evangelists for democracy," are trying to turn us into the next world-dominating empire. I'm grateful to Boxer and Kennedy for their decision to publicly oppose this madness.

Barbara Boxer, Ted Kennedy, and Nancy Pelosi are really undercover Republican operatives fighting to destroy the Democratic Party from within.
And, bless 'em, they're succeeding!

A clue for you Eric ----We are the world dominating empire.

And a question for you. Who would you rather have as the world dominating empire?

"...and they should have learned from the 2004 election that Americans are beginning to be turned off by character assassination, hypocritical rhetoric and the politics of fear and distortion."

Given that Bush's campaign was orchestrated by Karl Rove - a man who has turned character assassination and dirty tricks into a high art form - this statement is pretty hard to swallow.

Or could it be that there is some gloating that "our side hoodwinked the public better than their side!" at work here?

Good Lord... are either the Democrats or Republicans above routinely insulting the intelligence of the American people?!

"Who is on whose side in this war?"

Are we even right to be in this war to begin with? That's the real question.

What were our motives for starting this war? They have changed repeatedly since two years ago.

In the long run, it may have been a far better thing - for EVERYONE - if Saddam Hussein had remained in power in Iraq and upon his eventual demise or removal of him by their own volition, the Iraqi people choose for themselves what to do with their country. But that didn't happen and Iraq is now being set up to become the next "Balkan powderkeg".

Marginalizing this into an "Us versus Them" thing doesn't do favors for anyone... including us! I cannot subscribe to this "My country right or wrong" mindset: it's shallow and petty, and it establishes American nationalism as an idol to be worshipped. And from far too many quarters this is now being extended to "Our President right or wrong".

Well, Bush is wrong. And I say that not out of hatred or spite, or because of partisanship (I'm not a Democrat, by theway) but because he is wrong. And neither he or any man is owed respect solely on the basis of position or office: if he does something that warrants my respect, he'll get it. But "Conservatives" and Republicans don't have a divine right to the White House either.

Come to think of it, neither the Democrats and Republicans were ever given authority over the United States, period. So what gives any of 'em the right to behave worse than children, to lie and intimidate and bully for what ain't theirs, and to generally make the United States of America out to be a nation of morons... all on our dime?

(But I'll concede ya this: the Democrats are wrong to attack Bush as they are. But only because their opposition derives from blind hatred of another faction, and nothing more. That alone corrupts and destroys any message they try to bring against the current President.)

Mac, I don't think we have any right to dominate the world, nor does anyone else. There used to be this concept that a lot of people thought was pretty neat -- it was called "sovereignty." Perhaps you should look it up and see what you think of it.

But here's the main point of my objection... running the world has been the goal of plenty of people, from Caesar to Napoleon, to Hitler. They all brought their world to ruin because of their desires. Why should we think we'd have any better outcome?

"We are the world dominating empire."

The Roman Empire took 200 years to fall.

The British Empire took 20 years to fall.

At the rate things are going, it will only be by the grace of God that the American Empire doesn't take 20 weeks to fall.

Empires inevitably fall. When the American Empire falls it will be a far worse thing than when the Macedonians, or the Romans, or even the Soviet Empire collapsed. Those did have the wellspring of surrounding cultures from which to draw new blood. It was the tiredness of the old that led to stagnancy and decadence: they became either overstretched, or rotted thoroughly from within. The American Empire is not immune: indeed, I would dare say that ours is a far SICKER nation than any of those ever were prior to their fall.

And we dare play ignorant by focusing our attentions onto meaningless gestures like political parties and shows of armed might in dubious wars?

Friend, when the American Empire falls, it will bring with it a new dark age: the likes of which have never been conceived of in the minds of men. As a Christian I believe that God does extend a final mercy sometime in the future, but unlike some of those that now "have power" I refuse to pretend knowing exactly how or when that will happen. It might be five thousand years from now, for all we know. But in the meantime we - all of us - are called to do what we can in the span given us. Running away from that, either to entertainment or fleeting pleasures or excuse for raw emotion or the belief that "the world ends tomorrow so what the heck?", is the worst kind of sin against God and history: we only prove that we do not deserve to be trusted with the reins of empire at all.

When we fall, there will be nothing rich and alive and fresh to infuse us with new vigor. We grow stagnant. The world grows stagnant with us. And we sign the warrant that will condemn it to a period of stagnancy and decay, the end of which none now can forsee. We stand on the high precipice: only the fool would insist that he might still fly.

Want to stop that? Want to at least try and do what you can to give your children and grandchildren a better future than you yourself have known? Isn't that worth fighting and even dying for?

It's really very simple: we stop our own drive toward empire. We pull out of all countries where we engage in "nation-building". We more strongly secure our own borders. We do our darndest to persuade American companies to keep their workforces here and not abroad. Apart from exports and a few other industries, we cut off any involvement with other nations: "avoid foreign entanglements", as George Washington put it. We, for all intents and purposes, become an isolationist country. And then we begin to take a good, long and hard look at our own sorry state of affairs.

This will do two things: spark a renaissance of thoughts and ideas and productive industry in our own land. We rediscover what it is that made America great, and what can make it great again. And we remove ourselves as the crutch upon which all the rest of the world has come to rely on. It will become motivation for them to develop their own identities and sow new seed in the ground of their cultures. We don't need to bring "freedom and democracy" to any people anywhere: once they want it, they will be more than capable of seizing it for their own. "Thanks but no thanks Uncle Sam."

We save our own empire, and render an act of charity toward the "provinces" of our empire, by refusing to be an empire any longer. Instead of a dark age there would be a period of history unlike any other: when no man or nation dominated all others, or would even be able to. That would collapse also, under its own weight and that of history... but those days are not for us to determine the fate of. That's for our descendants. But we in the here and now must first show them the way. We owe them that much of a chance, at least.

"Who would you rather have as the world dominating empire?"

The Irish and Scots. But God created alcohol so that they could never take over the world.

(Drumroll: "Ba-dum-dum!")

OH Where has all the happiness gone? Where is the sanity? Where is the humility? Where is the trust? Where is the HOPE?

Just listen to the soap-box prophets: Doom, Destruction, End of civilization, World Empires, No help for the oppressed, Isolationist Nation, Arrogant mental giants spouting off like Bealzebub.

It is a beautiful world, We are a great nation because we are a great people. The Earth will continue to be an improving place for mankind because we and our caring. brave leaders dare to assist others to realize their dreams.

"It is a beautiful world, We are a great nation because we are a great people."

Ahh, but what exactly defines us as "great"? Is it per our own definition of greatness? Are we "good" because we tell ourselves that we are good? Do we assume that the divine anointment has come upon America because of our great wealth, our military superiority and dominance, that we have become the primary source of all the world's entertainment and politics and theology, etc...?

Those things cannot be taken as any evidence that we are "great". These are temporal things, and C.S. Lewis noted a few times that eternity will show them to be worthless things also. So we cannot post our material wealth as proof of our being "good" but left to his own devices, this is all that Man is capable of conceiving as "good". Real, ultimate good has to come from something beyond and above the ken of Man.

There is a school of thought that teaches that even if there is no God at all, the concept of God must still exist because without that perfection against which to hold our own lives accountable toward, we have no reason to account or be held accountable for anything.

You're assuming that America is great because her people are inherently good by nature, so whatever happens as a result of her actions must be good. The problem is that human nature is not good, at all. Left on its own, it's irredeemable. Something must compel us to, though we can never hit the mark on perfection, at least try and seek out that perfection. Hey doesn't hurt anything to try, right?

It's the pattern of history that human character cannot improve with age, either: it declines. Sure, we seem to have more opportunities and freedoms available now than at any other time in our history, but even those are no salve for the sickness on the human soul. A hundred years ago you could go anywhere in this country, do anything, be anything, so long as you didn't take away another's right to do those same things. Today you must fill out endless reams of paperwork just to build a storage shed on your own land. Back then your home was your own sovereign realm and respected as such: today it can be condemned and taken away in the blink of an eye, if The Powers That Be(tm) so choose that the land would be better managed (and generate more tax revenue) if Wal-Mart Inc. could build a superstore on it. Yesterday we made jokes about the secret police in the Soviet Union demanding that you show them "papers, please!" This very week Congress is seriously considering mandatory national ID cards, while schoolchildren in California are forced to wear RFID badges that monitor every move they make in school: whatever happened to the teachers keeping an eye on 'em, anyway? Fifty years ago Nineteen Eighty-Four was a fantasy: Big Brother couldn't possibly watch us and we wouldn't be so stupid as to buy into a meaningless war, not really... and then came red-light cameras and the Iraq War.

And this is supposed to be an "improving" state of things for us?

"America is great because her people are good. If they cease to be good, America will no longer be great."-- Alexis d' Tocqueville

We can't expect to be anything like "good" if we continue to use "good things" and political leaders who pretend to be "good" as a crutch to lean on.

"The Earth will continue to be an improving place for mankind because we and our caring. brave leaders dare to assist others to realize their dreams."

You don't give yourself enough credit, friend: if there is to be a change for the better, it won't come from "our leaders" at all. It's going to come from you and me and everyone else.

No one ever said that "the leaders" or "the rich" or "the powerful" had the market cornered on making history.

The writer of this letter blinded by the right wing media and their way of thinking really scares me. If the writer had watched the Rice hearings as I did, they would know that Rice repeatedly refused to answer whether if she saw American's being treated like we saw Iraqi prisoners being treated would she call it torture. She never answered. The writer would do themselves a big favor if they started watching Congressional hearings instead of accepting second hand news as gospel.
Rebecca Thompson
Burlington, NC

HAHAHA! You are dilusional. George Bush hasn't done himself any favors by telling lies to the American people. A lot of people voted for Bush because they believe him to be a good Christian. Those that voted for him for that reason are just plain stupid.

"Those that voted for him for that reason are just plain stupid." Posted by: Brian Harper.

Statements such as this is exactly the point the writer of the original letter, "Democrats don't do themselves any favors" was making. This type of comment is so typical of the extreme left wing of the Democrat part, the very one that has hastened the departure of many Democrats.
The Democrat party, for those not old enough to remember and it certainly is not taught in school any longer, was once the party of true compassion. It was a party that did not need to stoop to the level of Michael Moore's, Ted Kennedy and others who have gotten lost in the Hollywood morass of negativism.

The Democrat Party of FDR and John Kennedy understood right from wrong and not some political correctness drivil now put forth by leaders of the Party.

The Democrat Party did not have to depend on give away programs to get elected or present itself as a "caring Party" by promising the moon and giving nothing but fluff. Yes, FDR and JFK did create some great social programs designed to lift people out of the ditch, not to make them dependent on the government.

The folks who once voted Democrat were proud of what they stood for and it certainly was not the drivel put forth by the far left that has taken over the Party. They were proud to stand up with JFK and support his great words given in his inaugural speech. I remember them well, unfortunately the "new Democrats" don't. "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Unfortunately the brand of Democrat that makes statements such as the writer to whom I am replying does not understand this profound wisdom. Today, it is "what can I get out of the government that doesn't cost me anything". "What is the government going to do about it? " Why ain't the government doing sumthin about it?" JFK and the real Democrat's would answer, "Not a darn thing. it is up to you to get off your hindsides and do something about it. We will offer you a hand up, but not a hand out." FDR nor JFK intended any of the social programs they offered to become standard fare for those who will not help themselves.

Unfortunately the ideals and ideas of JFK departed the Democrat party soon after his untimely death. The ideals which he put forth were convoluted into utopian ideas designed to buy votes of those ill informed of the true cost, the cost of true freedom. These ideas became the chains and bonds of slavery to a Party that had lost it's true compassion and direction. As time past the direction became even more muddled and was captured by the far left.
Until the Democrat Party returns to the ideals of JFK and FDR it is doomed to wander in the swamp of elitism and Hollyweirdism, political correctism, and doomed to continue loosing election upon election.

Until the time the Democrat Party realizes this, it can be continued to be said, "The Democrats don't do themselves any favors."

"The problem is that human nature is not good, at all. Left on its own, it's irredeemable." Mr Knight, this declaration is true only to the hopless soul. It seems to me that your mind is reflecting that all nature not just human nature is corrupt.

If you choose to live an urban environment you will have to abide with the rules that are made to keep order. If you will move to a less conjested place you can build your shed without a permit. Leaders and laws are essential to order among men. Dependence on leaders is not a bad thing. Our collective efforts along with what we can do individually will construct a more universal good.

When those of us that look around and find more light than darkness more good than evil we can seize the opportunity to right wrongs.

Faith in goodness gives us an assurance and hope for a better tommorow.

Max Ehrmann said it best: "You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams , it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

The funniest thing I see from this entire conversation was made apparent to me by one of my favorit authors, Orson Scott Card. If any of you have read Ender's Game you should agree on the fact that if we were to be attacked by an alien race from another planet, humanity would tend to unite more as a benefit to the survival of mankind. We would find ways to work together, in peace, against our obvious enemy. In retrospect to the arguments here, all it would take for us to go back to normal would be the defeat of that enemy. We, as humans, would only go back to fighting against ourselves (as a race).

What bothers me the most is people do not recognise their own enemies. for example, government. The government head figures never fight their own battles. We don't see the president out on the field fighting our so-called enemies. Why? (some say if he died we would have no leadership) well, what about bravery? the days of chivalry have passed us. Our leaders do not fulfil the bidding of their own fights, they make the "little people" do it, like you and me. Why is it you never hear about supreme court judges, senators, congressmen being drafted? It is because in this society they are above the law, and sometimes create the laws.

Everyone is entitled to their own oppinion, and mine is that the US government makes me sick. I am not asking for it to be abolished, I am asking that it be replaced. Replaced with more honest citizens. more "brave" leaders. More intelligent people altogether. not replenished by the families of those already in office. not by those who clearly perform for the public in exchange for votes.

I am sorry if I have offended any of you reading this, but please, if I can make a suggestion, DO YOUR RESEARCH. The enemy of humanity is walking amongst us but we mistakingly are blind to them.

Help each other learn the truths of the world. onyl then, when we all know everything will we learn that fighting ourselves is utterly obsurd.