No, there shouldn't be racial or religious tests of any kind for public office in the U.S. BUT, de facto if not de jure, there are. There is, however, no apparent discrimination in the elctoral marketplace against Jews. Jews are 2% of the population but are represented at far higher percentages than that in the Congress. Atheists, OTOH, are 4-5% of the population but are not represented at all in the Congress. Blacks are 14% of the population but do not have anywhere near that representation in Congress. Hispanics are even worse off even though they are 15% of the population. Americans do make distinctions on the basis of race and religion whether or they should.

Are you 12 years old or doing drugs or just doing your best to be an obnoxious little twit? That you have no idea what happened to the millions of us who opposed the Vietnam War says lots more about you than anything else. Many others were Repubs to begin with who supported the wear. I went to jail instead of serving in the military - I could prove that I was a pacifist but there was no provision in the law for conscientious objector status for atheists. I remain a lifelong Democrat although the DLC scumbags in the party make me want to puke.

Yes, I'm a smart, hard working guy, and I have lost the battle against affluence. So what? I have opposed every war that has occurred since 1960. I am still highly active in my community. Most of my friends are other boomers who vote Democrat or Green. What are you talking about? Yes, some sold out but by no means all. Learn to read or do some research before you mouth off about things that are clearly beyond you.

D'Souza is also one of the premier racists in America. He has lots of excuses for his hatred of everyone not white or not like him. He was a member of the Concerned Alumni of Princeton that opposed admission of women and minorities regardless of qualification. He supports racial discrimination as just smart business.

Also, the Shah was not just a dictator - he murdered at leat 250,000 people in his 26 year reign of terror and tortured a half million more. Don't forget that Israel also participated in the overthrow of Mossadegh in 1953, and that action is part of the hatred that Iran has for Israel today.

Oh, please, Ed, I am a lifelong Democrat, and I repudiate and revile the DLC. I hunger not for the slimebag that Bill Clinton was and is, and I would never vote for Hillary or any other DLC scumbag. Almost all of the so-called Democrats you mention support or supported the war in Iraq. That alone is enough to oppose them, but they also oppose single payer national health care financing even though private insurance is THE problem in health care, they oppose equal rights for all Americans regardless of status, they are very weak on separation of church and state, they are all funded primarily by the most evil corporate filth imaginable, they advocate corporotocracy, they do not believe in anything remotely resembling tax fairness and on and on and on.

Face it son, from the perspective of real Democrats, you guys are garbage, and, if too many more of you infest the party, we'll have to find our own third way.

Hannah Arendt had her own moral issues to address. She has written some of the classic literature on totalitarianism, but she was in love with Martin Heidigger (sp?) who was a hard core Nazi as well as a well known philosopher. They were a truly strange couple.

Don't be blaming prep school and Ivy colleges for this type of behavior. There are tens of thousands of us who attended prep schools and Ivy colleges who ended up being anti-war lefties. I am Scooter's age, and I went to Choate School and Brown. Yes, these places do give a person a leg up toward success, but they do not produce uniformity of thinking.

Under Eisenhour, the U.S. overthrew the democratically elected governmments of Iran and Guatemala, sabotaged the elections in Vietnam scheduled for 1956, intervened to prop up the minority Christians in Lebanon in 1957-58, spied routinely and systematically on Americans without warrant or evidence, assasinated at least 20 leaders around the world and many other atrocities. Ike was scum

Andrew, please. The Chinese don't compete, they cheat. Without subsistence wages and mandatory unpaid overtime and a controlled currency, China would not be doing so well.

I think I dislike agreeing with you, but I've seeen it, and you are absolutely correct. Very scary for many reasons

Just for the record, it would take 218 votes in the House to impeach Bush and 51 votes in the Senate to remove him. No super majority required, and veto is not permitted.