I was barely able to keep up with reading posts over the weekend and so couldn't contribute.

I want to echo the thanks to all those who have served our country as members of the military. I know it's trite, but I still insist on pushing back: my disgust with the Administration's warperv policies is completely separate from my gratitude to those who have volunteered (and earlier were drafted) to serve our country.

For those of you (RMP and Jklos most recently in the thread) who dared to speak up to wrong-doing: good on you. I would like to think that what we are doing and discussing here is in a small part the citizen equivalent of just that. Many choose to "keep their heads down" and not buck the trend of what is being foisted on us whether we are in the military or common citizens, but a few of us are standing up, pointing out the wrong-doing and developing courses of action to bring about correction.

As kovie and hrh point out, responses and attitudes for those of us "in the trenches" alternate between blithering outrage and merely turning the lights out and going to sleep (as I did as well after the Mukasey vote). When we are between those extremes, however, is when we develop the clear-eyed resolve kovie is urging us toward. So yes, "the end is near" sandwich boards are not appropriate, but pointing out that the current assault on the Constitution is absolutely unprecedented in its scope, magnitude and brazenness is warranted.

As for strategies, I agree that efforts to provide and publicize detailed documentation on the corruption inherent in Feinstein's acts is a promising course. I am also considering undertaking a financial analysis to come up with documentation on the size of the "profit" in the defense and healthcare industries. While the current push on healthcare is toward universal "insurance", I think that the public needs to be made more aware of the source of profit to health insurance companies (the denial of service) and the disgusting amount of profit made by these insurance companies.

Similarly, I don't think I've seen a thorough analysis of how much of our outrageous defense spending goes directly to profit in the MIC. I think the public would be well-served if we can find a way to document just how much profit is in this sector, how few companies and individuals receive it, and what a large portion of our tax dollar goes to fuel it.

Where I am headed is to suggest that the same arguments that show that a single, government payer system for health care in our country apply to the suggestion that much of what the military purchases would be provided much more efficiently by a larger military doing the weapons manufacturing itself. More importantly, if the military is doing the manufacturing, then the fraud and influence peddling inherent in the awarding of these manufacturing contracts is reduced dramatically when there is a single, government entity producing what the military needs.

It was nice while it lasted. Thanks for your service to our country.

VC money is absolutely without principles. Oh yes, there is lip service to green industry and improving the world, but make no mistake. VC is only, and will only ever be, about making more money for the C'ists. Morality, the rule of law and other niceties are merely bumps in the road to further concentration of capital. Al, you are now truly on the dark side.

I just sat through the entire disgusting spectacle.

Near the end, Goldberg decides to waffle some and present a side of the discussion he can use later to show that he is against torture. What struck me was how he framed the argument. It was directly associated with his example of animal rights. He said something to the effect that he doesn't believe that animals have rights, but that humans have responsibilities in their actions toward animals. It was clear that this is how he views the torture question. We have responsibilities toward those Islamofascist animals we torture. Geez....

OT: can someone get Beinart some flea powder? I've never seen anyone fidget so much.

We did. Until 2001.

To repeat information that was provided by omooex and ondelette on the previous Ron Paul thread, the Alliance for the Separation of School and State has this as its proclamation: I proclaim publicly that I favor ending government involvement in education.

It is unquestionable from their web site that this group is advocating no government funding, state or federal, for education. Ron Paul is quite prominent on their page of Proclamation Signers: http://www.schoolandstate.org/proclamation.htm

He also has very prominent billing on their home page.

Here's a bit more from the home page:

We believe parents, and not the state, should be in charge of their children's education. That control may take many forms and levels of involvement, but the state will never be part of the picture.

If this seems like an impossible idea, consider that 8 million children already learn free of state control. We're not starting from scratch here. The snowball of educational independence is already rolling.

How does all of that fit with this:For the last time, Ron Paul does not want to eliminate pubic[sic] education!!! --davegnyc

If Ron Paul does not want to eliminate public education, then he should have his name removed from this site.

[snark]Pubic education, on the other hand, could reduce dramatically the the frequency of unwanted pregnancies.[/snark]