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Of course you would because everyone knows you're the most intelligent, best informed person to ever walk the planet and ...

I agree. Ol' nate is in the upper ranks of intelligence and being well-informed.

That's why once again, now that you've reminded me, I'm like you;

Jealous Again

though do think I'll get over it (while appreciating his points of view).

My own lesser take on things, guessing at it as best I can (although I can't seem to get myself far enough out of the way to make a really good one);

If Trump fades enough; the Branch Trumpidians decide to not go for the buried bus (as they should; only coming out if they did, in exercise of abundance of caution, to go door-to-door in their neighborhoods as campaign volunteers who will vote for Cruz) leave their Mount Caramel to never go back & go a-marching third party instead and succeed(!) in getting the Donaldman TV guy hotel resort-namer Un-Fired to Campaign Rally splitting off a third of the overall vote with 3/5ths to 4/5th of that third coming from people who would otherwise no matter what vote against the Crime Family Foundation lawyer from Chicago (who's first name begins with "H" like hell & Huma that travels with her) resulting in the being elected president of Land which once showed sign of Great Promise, then after that happened no matter WHAT --- (if we let it) they damn well better go home crawl in the bus while the rest of us start digging holes for our own measly hides to hide in too, 'cuz it'd be over soon, all we'd need is air, water and food enough to wait for State, local & Federale Po-Po to eventually get there to burn us out of our misery if the Mullahs didn't beat em to the party punch bowl, which they'd love to arrive at soon enough for a good drink of, themselves, provided the Imperialist Capitalist Running Red Army dogs of Country with Great Wall didn't decide we needed saving sending occupying running dogs everywhere 'cross Land to "keep safe country-poor" (while they collected past due T-bill $$$cash$$$ in form of everything -- farmland & long-legged buxom blonde women) after dead-banged-done-over-and-out nukes slacked off enough from sending the Geiger counters spinning too much, yu go now, yu eat too much.

In other words --- assume the position head firmly between knees and kiss your sweet baby cheeks GOOD-Bye --- it was nice having you hanging around as long as you did.

I'd prefer to die with my boots on, I think.

Of course you would because everyone knows you’re the most intelligent, best informed person to ever walk the planet and your comment, as idiotic as it seems, has nothing to do with your disdain for Trump and his supporters

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Sounds a lot like elitist snobbery to me but what do I know, I’m one of those voters without a college degree. College degrees being the standard, by which to assess the voter’s intelligence. After all, polls do show that Trump’s support is strongest among those without a degree.

I suppose I should bow to the will of those, “more intelligent” than I am.

My betters, so to speak.

My point has to do with the ultimate responsibility for government. It has to do with whether one should vote for the man or vote for the principle. It has to do with whether a society and a culture ultimately gets the kind of government it deserves. It has to do with whether we can bomb Dresden and Hiroshima or whether those bombings amounted to a war crime.

It is human nature to personalize politicians and it is certainly human nature to rationalize our predilections and prejudices. The man on horseback will always have a following. Our founders knew this even before Napoleon came into office and so wrote a Constitution that was designed to cope with venal, imperfect men in office and men who voted them into office. The whole idea of separation of powers, checks and balances, Bill of Rights, is to cope with the imperfections of man.

Dennis Prager has made some very good points on this subject in an old article he wrote to the effect that whether you are a liberal or a conservative depends on whether you believe man is good or evil. Conservatives believe that man is tragically evil and I would add to Prager that that means man is in need of salvation rather than education. In other words, man is a fallen creature liable to all manner of sin and it is folly to believe that any politician, even Washington, Lincoln or Reagan is perfect. Yet it is human nature to indulge this folly.

When a politician changes is position on an issue which we find agreeable we say he has grown and matured. When a politician changes his position to a position we find disagreeable we say he has flip-flopped or sold out. We want him to sell out when we like the result. Let's not kid ourselves, we bear serious responsibility for the government we get.

One of the issues that divides conservatives is the matter of the article 5 movement which I support which invokes the Constitution to restore the Constitution to its original state, one of divided powers and checks and balances. Conservatives who oppose his point of view, and progressives certainly, say that all we need is to load the right people into office and they will observe the Constitution as it currently exists. I say, yes we must find candidates with the highest qualities of character but we cannot rely on a superstar to put right a system which has become perverse or a culture which is circling the drain.

Yes, of course, we need to educate our electorate but we must also recognize our susceptibility to vote for the Kingfish. When we bombed Dresden we were inflicting dreadful collateral damage on the people of that city. Were they responsible for the government over them? Were they responsible for putting Hitler in power and keeping him there, for presiding over concentration camps and the murder of millions of people? When we whore after false gods, when we convince ourselves that this man can do no wrong, we become citizens of Dresden and we are likely to get what we deserve.