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GW is surrounded by those who determine what information he is given, and lay out the alleged options from which he must make his choices. Too much of it is easily manipulable by those less trustworthy than he (may be.)

LSJohn, you mentioned earlier that you weren't exactly sure about my "Left Progressive (Positivist, Materialist, yada yada) thing." Well, maybe I got even that wrong. Maybe what we're dealing with here is some global variant of Mob, Inc. -- which cares nothing at all about ideology, and everything about effective -- and global (such pretensions being what they are) -- POWER. (But conceding that point, they could only justify such power on positivist, materialist, utilitarian, and/or atheist grounds. Assuming they felt they needed to justify it at all. I'd be willing to try a defense of that hypothesis sometime.... But it's not essential here.)

If the Global Mob, Inc. scenario were to be the case, then where do we start looking for the miscreants? They're sure not "targets" on the ground in Afghanistan.

I'm sorry I haven't written sooner. I've been feeling a little "punk" lately -- you know, swimming in a vast sea of sh*t like most of the rest of us, trying to get some kind of take on the horizon of events, such that I could even begin to get oriented -- and it's been taking its toll. Mostly I've been lurking. But have been reading some. Not to mention thinking, and even dreaming on these themes.

You envision the problem of GWB being held in the dark by his expert advisors (at least as a possibility). It seems to me there is an analogous problem, and I worry about it: That the People are being so held in the dark.

Yes, I know this is wartime. And yes, the "Constitution is not a suicide pact." BUT. I worry that the civil/military authority which is constitutionally vested in the President has decided to tell the American people just as little as it can get away with about information regarding the conduct of this war. Let me repeat: I know we live in wartime conditions. But unless the folks "in charge" don't start telling us something of substance sometime soon, I'm gonna start wondering: Who's war? And for what?

We don't want to get into a situation where the employees of We the People don't trust their employer (let alone fail to understand that they are accountable to same). That would establish a very, very bad precedent, indeed.

Anyhoot, I respect you as a thinker, LSJohn -- and sometime "sparring partner." :^) And I just wanted to let you know that we share common problems. I needed four days to compose a thoughtful reply. You've done me a great kindness in "putting me through the exercise." Thanks, my friend. All my best -- bb.

This war is about a natural gas pipeline. I would never go so far as to say that 9/11 was a planned event. I don't think it was. But you'll note that every piece of legislation passed since was on the shelf in the event that something big occurred.

As far as the citizens not trusting their employees. We were never supposed to trust them. That was the point of the bill of rights. Don't trust them. You'll get screwed if you do.

LSJohn, you mentioned earlier that you weren't exactly sure about my "Left Progressive (Positivist, Materialist, yada yada) thing."

Nah, I didn't mean that such a person wouldn't follow the thinking process you outlined. Since my thoughts run in a vein similar to that, I felt the need to disclaim that I wear such a hat (and I was really joking since I knew you didn't think I did.)

IMO, you're one of those rare people who eventually gets very close to the right answer because you won't quit asking questions and working at it until you're satisfied. Your positions are always reasonable and thoughtful, and when I disagree you make me think harder and deeper.

Thanks