Our nation is a "Republic" with an "electorate" in place to represent the "will of the people"; we have never been a "Democracy", and it never was the intention of our "framers" to make us one. Democracies like the Greek and Romans had were marked by constant "civil war" and anarchy with "Dictators" chosen to rule the masses (in some cases by the military). Ever since the 1930's we have gone from an economy that was mostly based on agriculture (75%) to an industrial economy (less than 2% independent farmers) that is becoming more and more concentrated in large urban centers. Partly because of these large urban centers, we find voting "blocks" of people unable to sustain themselves without depending on some type of government services; thus, they become more aligned with "government" (any government, Fed, State, and local) that can provide these services. Since politicians remain in power by promising services, whether it be the health, education, or defense; as long as the electorate is convinced of their future success they will have a job. We have most states dominated in numbers, thus politically, by "urbanites"; thus we see NYC and Chicago "outvote" the rest of their respective states. When our citizens were less dependent on state and federal governments, we seldom took political "promises" serious and relied upon ourselves for the welfare of our families. If you look at your current state government's budget for any given year you might notice that up to 1/3 of the money your state receives in revenue is from the Federal government (my state receives 6.8 billion of a 21 billion dollar budget). Because of this money, most of which is not "earmarked" for a specific task, the Federal government is allowed to make decisions on your health care, road system, EPA and OSHA standards in the work place, hiring practices, educational curriculum's, etc., etc. It is no wonder our nation is "drunk on the way" to becoming a "socialist state". As one voter put it, "saying yes to 'term limits' is like say, please don't let me vote for that idiot again". It's hard to get off the welfare state that promises so much when we are never told the cost until tax time. Most people are too busy to keep up with the politicians, who work daily at passing "feel good" legislation continually to make government growth inevitable at a ever increasing cost to us. We only occasionally hear about how our money is "wasted" while we have plenty of "clues"! We now take the "easy way out" in obtaining the new. We are educated and "updated" from the "Boob tube" on what is happening in this world; but for the most part the new agencies have become as lazy about reporting the news as we have about obtaining "truthful" sources. Their "spokespersons" have become the news "stars" and since 1968 the big news outlets near Washington D.C. have "intentionally", or unintentionally become a political party without a big "d" or "r". I say 1968, because even though we won the "battle of Hue City, they convinced our country that we lost the war (probably even surprised them); then they found they could cause the "fall" of a "sitting" president it embolden them further. Later we have seen where they can convict public figures, who are nothing more than "flawed humans" with big titles, without a hearing or trial; impugn reputations on a "whim", and imprison the very people who help protect out defense and borders. The big news outlets know how corrupt our politicians are and can "reign them in" at any time if they fail to be "politically incorrect". Our politicians no longer represent us the people, but themselves and are in a constant "campaign" through the media to stay in office and in power. We have to break this hold! I believe Ron Paul to be a good man (statesman as well), but he was never given a public forum by the big media outlets and was "doomed". The media gave us "our picks" based on money, PR timing, and nonparticipating of the people with their "Representatives". If we are to make any "marked" difference in our system, it is going to have to start (as GB stated) at the local levels of government, not at the top. We have to persuade people who "qualify to vote" show up at the "polls" who vote their "values" (not the "weak" 14 to 25% voting turnout we usually get). I also believe we "desperately" need "term limits"; we have them for the "highest office" in the land, why not for the rest of the "elected officials?". I do not "chastise" anyone for not wanting to vote or voting for a candidate who meets "their specifications", least of all Dee and those like him whose families have paid such a high price as citizens of this "Country" to keep it "free". I hope to see another real "conservative" in my life time come back to the rescue of our country, just like Reagan after he got the organization and "backing" behind him to defeat Carter, after being defeated by Ford in his own party. (After all, George Washington had to come back to rescue the "Constitution" early on in our history.) I don't see us surviving a revolution, like the French (look who they got to run the country after theirs!), I don't think we could agree on a "leader" or trust him to not become a dictator. We do have it "easy" in our society and with this ease it has brought "complacency" and "irresponsibility". History runs in cycles, I'm sure my Grandfather had some "choice words" to express his feelings about the "Roaring Twenties" followed by the "Bread lines" of the '30's. We had our first tests of the 21st century and I'm fairly certain that it will be followed by many more that will help determine whether we let government tell us how to react, via the media, or we tell them how we are to be "served". Regards, Jager