Shaunasi,

I do like some of the points you made. You clearly have a good grasp of our political system. By the way, with regards to free trade and how governments can get sued, you may be interested in something I posted a while back in Section B, under the heading E&Z #2. It's too long to quote here, but basically it's about the story of the US getting sued by a corporation in Canada.

I do think that out of everybody in the Bush administration, Donald Rumsfeld is second best, right under Colin Powell. I think these two are the best simply because I see them as being the least political, deceptive, and duplicitous (though I'm not thrilled about Rumsfeld's now defunct idea of creating a Pentagon misinformation department - talk about ticking off our allies).

Personally, I don't see it as being impossible for a third party to come on strong in an election. Ralph Nader simply had the wrong idea. You cannot start a political party and attempt to take it national the next year. It is simply not going to happen. The best third party in progress I have seen is Jesse Ventura's Independence Party in Minnesota. He is doing it the right way. He understands that the Green Party tried to spread too far too fast (think Roman Empire) and collapsed. Ventura is starting it as a regional party, and I'm sure he'll be working his way up the ladder.

I also don't think it is impossible for a third party to win. You spoke of Perot in 1992 and 1996. I think it is worth mentioning that Perot won almost 20 million votes in 1992, for about 19% of the vote. Talk about a strong showing for a third party! This is because he had a reasonable platform that did not deviate from conventional wisdom by much. Trouble only occurs when we start getting third party candidates like Harry Browne who wants to abolish the income tax and let all drug offenders out of prison and onto the streets, and Pat Buchanan, the candidate from the American Neo-Facist Party.

I think a third party can do quite well in this country, but it has to be the right third party. Nader slit his own political throat in 2000, so I don't see him as being any kind of contender in the next elections. But if we can get a candidate that is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, he/she might do a lot better.

-Britt