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Too bad the GOP didn't disintegrate over socialism this year the way the Whigs did over slavery. People in the 1850s had more principle and better understanding of the stakes. They knew that there was no more time to wait to decide the slavery issue. If it got extended to the territories, the south would retain its political power and slavery would never die. We'd still have it today.

Ah, but we DO still have it today.

OK, they're not black -- they're tan; and they're not from Africa, they're from Mexico.

And, they aren't "legally" owned, but that's a distinction without a difference.

The "unique institution" has been refined. Both sides have worked out the perfect compromise. All by the magic of Motor-Voter! The Stupid Party gets to have the slave labor, and The Evil Party gets to have the slave vote. It's a win-win situation.

In fact, it's a win-win-win situation, since even the slaves think they come out on top. As the old saying goes, the perfect slave thinks he's free. And today's slaves, though they be slaves (in all but name), don't realize that they're owned by the plantation.

They may move from one plantation to the next, but that's no loss to the slaveholders. It's a benefit!