By K.W.
tech@salemdenver.com

Sticks and stones....    may break my bones but names will never hurt me. Evil individuals in positions of power are well aware of this truism. Whoever originated the old sticks & stones ditty had keen insight into human nature. In today's world we increasingly operate under the mistaken impression that we can make things happen solely by the air that comes out of our mouths and the images & sounds that enter into our eyes & ears. This is called virtual reality.... Air and images lack an element that is called substance.

A farmer can talk to his tractor all he wants, even set up a TV and VCR and play videos for it, but until he climbs aboard and starts it up, the field isn't going to get plowed. An old preacher said it in another way: "When a farmer prays for his corn crop, God expects him to say amen with a hoe..." The present flood of cell phones, PDA's and various other hand-held gadgets is, no doubt, related to this VR phenomenon. Americans communicate more easily than at any time in the nation's history yet appear to be less informed (willfully or otherwise) about the intents and purposes of the people they elect to public office.

Americans (at least those who were a product of the public education system before it became an idoctrinational tool) seem to have a handle on the fact that our government has exceeded it's original purpose and now encroaches upon almost every aspect of our daily lives. The fact that excessive encroachment exists is no longer an issue that is up for debate. The current argument is how much encroachment the populace can tolerate before the concept of "the land of the free" becomes a joke and the government has to resort to outright force to maintain the status quo.

Increasing numbers of people are becoming aware that many of our so-called "leaders" are nothing more than scam artists or self-serving hypocrites and that a few of them are outright evil individuals who do not have a patriotic bone in their bodies. Some people could care less. Some think they can use the corruption to their advantage to promote personal agendas, while others are frustrated and alarmed by the situation. It is a nagging fear that they try and push away with the business and busyness of their daily lives but it lingers and lurks deep down within them.

It is human nature to try to allay our fears and concerns by talking and writing about them. This is a good outlet but excessive dialogue turns into diatribe which eventually turns off the hearer when they come to the realization that nothing much is changing...

Somewhere back in time another sage individual with keen insight coined the phrase: "talk is cheap". Talk is also big business...

The current American scenario brings the cliche, "paralysis by analysis" to mind. Many clever people have made fortunes by talking and writing about the current regime's overt and covert shenanigans. Talking and reading may make us feel better but until one decides to translate the thoughts into action, the tractor doesn't start and the field lies unplowed.

The Clinton administration is an example of how people can be whip-sawed and confused. In the short history of our nation there has been perhaps no larger a concentration of crooks, hypocrites, deviates and outright evil people concurrently occupying positions of power. They have violated and flaunted almost every law in the land, attacked anyone & everyone who has dared to get in their way and used any means at their disposal to redirect the public's attention.

There have been countless spoken and written words devoted to exposing their illegal activities and abuses of power but after eight years, there they are, still up to their old tricks. There were a couple of brave efforts to hold them accountable but even these were subverted by the very people who have sworn to uphold the laws that were violated.

We are now faced with the preposterous possibility of electing two of the key perps to be our new "leaders". This group has behaved so abysmally that they make anyone who runs against them appear to be an acceptable candidate. The powers that be have taken steps to exclude anyone else who might interject real issues into the debate process. The question becomes: Is a bird in the hand really worth two in the "Bush"?

Until America wakes up and decides to rid itself of the parasites that infest our government and return it to limited form, I fear that we will just keep on talking and writing about the problems.

An article by former FBI agent Mr. Gary Aldrich points out that there are already efforts underway to stifle complaints of government abuse. See http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_excomm/20001014_xex_goodbye_unli.shtml

If anyone seriously thinks that our government is going to downsize and limit itself in a peaceful manner because it is "the right thing to do," keep dreaming or using those controlled & illegal substances. The day is fast approaching where any criticism of government will be considered a criminal act...

Let us face reality and see that the longer we sit around and talk about things, the larger the problem will grow and the difficulties involved in correcting it will increase exponentially. Until a significant number of American people acquire the courage, resolve, huevos, cajones, or whatever you want to call it, to deal with the obvious, we will remain content to talk ourselves into tolerating totalitarianism.

--K.W.
tech@salemdenver.com