public officials have great power, often wielded in secret. the only protection the people can have is the character of the official. when evidence appears that an officer is a hypocrite, public reaction is and should be revulsion. regardless of what he says, he might do anything.

another aspect which deserves more thought is vulnerability. a corrupt secret police, and that is all of them, is likely to 'bank' errant officials. the officials stop serving the people, and start serving the secret police. hoover showed that this does happen in the usa, and nothing has been done to prevent it happening in future, or right now.

spitzer might well feel lucky at being prosecuted. being blackmailed might well have been worse. perhaps he was offered the choice, and chose wisely.

finally, usd4000 for a date with a commercial dolly? he is paid way too much, or is way too stupid to be governor.

..some americans are vaguely in touch with reality. but the situation is much worse than you imagine: it ain't bush, folks, and it ain't new. you've always been like this.

put the people in charge, with real democracy, and the culture will change. continue with elective oligarchy, and empire will consume you. i wouldn't mind, good riddance, but you'll hurt too many on the way out.

so clean up yer act.

police state blanket surveillance is death to society. not because the nsa will catch people doing wrong, but because they will not expose, or prosecute. instead, they will 'own' public officers, and bend them to the will of the secret police. and it doesn't stop there, in the end everyone is caught up in the web of the police.

spitzer is lucky to be exposed.

the policy of the nation from the person/s who execute.

you know, democracy: initiative, referendum, recall.

simple, huh? that's how you can tell obama, clinton, and mccain are phoney baloneys, it's all about "pump me up!", not about running the country effectively.

.. are rather like a circus?

of course, in every society the direction of policy is wrapped in the struggle of alphas for title of alpha prime, but it's so public and protracted in the usa that one is tempted to conclude that the entertainment factor is paramount. it's not really democracy, and the grunts getting shot up in the middle east would say it's not harmless either.

still, but for the grace of god, it might be run like russia. well, more like russia.

i hope the clintons are squeaky clean, at least by standards applied to politicians. it would make a nice change.

the main problem in america today arises from the fact it is not a democracy. the citizens can not compel ethical behavior of federal officers. citizen initiative, recall, and referendum power would prune the megalomania of unfettered power now held by the beltway elite. the citizens could, and should, compel all officers and candidates to publicize their finances and activities.

this will need a second american revolution, not violent, but radical. i'm surprised nader, gravel, and kucinich haven't formed a citizens action group to this end. maybe they look at the character of america, and despair. or maybe they can't agree who shall be chairperson.

..to send cheney a 'big bird' suit.

but it's hard to tell who's insane anymore. the bush cabinet has certifiable megalomaniacs, the christian(so-called) israeli supporters are in it to bring on the end of the world. the cia is doing what unchecked secret police do: justifying their existence by finding plots, creating plots, falsifying plots- and failing to see real plots.

and poor old iran is in the hands religious nutters whose only claim to respect is that, for historical reasons, they happen to be right when they declare that the usa is the great satan.

i'd be worried, if i were an israeli. their brilliant foreign policy of making themselves hated by several hundred million neighbors is having consequences that are not necessarily to israel's advantage.

i blame harry truman: he could have stopped the zionist invasion of palestine, but he needed the jewish vote in '48.

if clinton should make public her finances, why not you? the prez should be squeaky clean, but the citizens can dud the tax man, support a secret mistress, sponsor a political hit squad?

sorry, politicians can't be better than the people who vote for them, and are often worse.

"as i was riding on the road to damascus..."

don't know whether to laugh or cry. read american newspapers, from the indian wars, the mexican war, the liberation of the phillipines, the democratization of south east asia, the liberation of palestine, the liberation of kuwait.

why pick on some jerk making a living in the traditional way of pandering to the needs of the american elite?

does glen really imagine he has some new insight? easy to make a living as a one-eyed man in the land of the blindly free, or freely blind.

munitions industry is not the best use of america's resources. but of course, you can't change. as rome ran on slaves, america runs on guns.

schools, hospitals, roads and rail are all second best, or fourth, or third world. recent immigrants prop up your universities, wetbacks pick your crops, rich and poor despise the nation. there may be a few middles still proud of america, but they are deluded. see "in the valley of elah", "rendition", "taxi to the dark side", and tell me there is something to be proud of.

so the the blonds are leading in responsible use of resources? no surprise. self respect and respect for others are necessary to leadership like this. arrogance and chauvinism are not substitutes, and that's all that's left in american society.

.. john mccain even happier.