I want to thank you for infecting me with a new meme a few weeks ago.

The meme of the drug war as the secular religion of the USA.

It makes so much sense now that you have explained it. Religion or faith can be defined as belief in the lack of evidence for that belief.

Every politician, both Democratic and Republican, in the USA, almost to a man is a supporter of the drug war.

And yet, there is no evidence that the drug war has any positive effects on society and a veritable Everest of evidence that it does a great deal of harm to society.

Not the least piece of evidence being that the nineteenth and twenty first amendments are but thirteen short years apart.

That posts like ours just hang out there, unanswered, is evidence enough that people are aware of the truth of the matter.

Liberals should commit seppuku from dishonor for allowing this abomination to continue to the point of "The Land of the Free" having the highest incarceration rate on the planet.

I wouldn't be so sure.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/22/opinion/polls/main965223.shtml

(CBS) Most Americans do not accept the theory of evolution. Instead, 51 percent of Americans say God created humans in their present form, and another three in 10 say that while humans evolved, God guided the process. Just 15 percent say humans evolved, and that God was not involved.

And it is not true that only the tough and smart survive a full scale nuclear war. If anyone survives at all, it will be because they weren't poisoned, over the entire reasonable lifespan of all the contaminants, and the entire period of accumulation and effects on those accumulating them. Toughness and smartness have nothing to do with pervasive poisons. They only make people fantasize about being survivors, something that is ingrained in the species.

You're smarter than that.

When civilization falls, which it will in the case of full scale nuclear war, the weak and stupid will survive?

There are a few of us in the West these days that are smart, there are far fewer who are tough as well.

And no, I don't include myself in the latter category, I have no fantasy of surviving nuclear war.

If I were to guess, and this is merely a guess, I'd say most Americans (by far) probably believe in a combination of evolution and creationism.

You have far greater faith in the rationality of the American people than do I.

Let's not forget, GW Bush got a higher percentage of the vote in 2004 than 2000. That certainly does not speak well of either the intelligence or the knowledge of the average voter.

http://www.neh.gov/news/archive/20020917.html

A Columbia Law School survey found that 35 percent of voting-age Americans thought that Karl Marx's dogma, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs," was in the United States Constitution. Another 34 percent responded that they weren't sure.

This is not to say religion is necessarily bad. Indeed, for most of us, it is the source of our morality. We cannot simply erase it and maintain who we are as individuals, nor can we erase it and maintain our national character, which in spite of our many faults is largely good.

But to anyone who tries to pass off some 50% polling number to you, believe your eyes first. Religion in America is still a largely private and personal matter. When pressed people will say otherwise, but when not, most Americans still prefer it to remain largely a private matter of their hearts. Where it works best.

GW Bush got a higher percentage of the vote in 2004 than in 2000.

Need I really say more about the essential intelligence, knowledge and character of the average American?

Apparently you are a theist.. If you look at America through the eyes of an atheist you will see a far different picture.

Listen to God Bless America sometimes.. It isn't a prayer or request, it's a command, an order.

One in three black men will go to prison in their lifetimes.. And even here on a supposedly liberal site it is anathema to talk about it. The reason for this is obvious, because Democrats are every bit as culpable as Republicans and everyone knows it will never end.

Is a day without endless opportunities to exercise my gag reflex.

You hit a nerve..

And even in the Junior HS mode in which these guys operate King loses..

He blew his cool, and blowing your cool is never cool.

It's the height of blind arrogance to believe "shut up!" is a strong argument.

LOL, one of O'Loofah's favorite lines on the "all spin zone".

Ever notice that *zero* right winger commentators can hold their own when they do not control the microphone?

I recall hearing one of our local radio personalities weasel her way past Limbaugh's phone screeners and basically reduce him to a quivering, spluttering, blubbering lump of lard on the air.