{blush}

Fortunately for this ego, them IQ number thingies were just high enough to get moi into a certain amount of *useful trouble - and a lot of others too, I noticed en passant. *that which teaches you just how unsmart you are, just in time..

More practically, I noticed from my first intro into Big Science (within weeks, that is) that technical prestidigitation skills had little correlation with reason, say (except nice mechanical logic) and zippo to do with psych/people knowledge. (And politics is at base - the manipulation of people to Like you and swallow your rationalizations, for doing so.)

The second thing I noticed there, was the inordinate representation of a mindset among many of technicians which was altogether familiar to me: that of my wacko Gramma. 'Compassion' was a word in the dictionary, and "people are all just like me - they want what I got because *I'm* so Smart" yada yada - seemed the rationale for a simplistic view of what is 'fair' and why numbers could measure that. I still find this observation strange; maybe my sample was too small - but 100+ folks over the years is at least a viable base.

Views on how the country should be 'run' aside: I am just as as puzzled today - by the blind acceptance of the propaganda output of the current cabal; this despite all the traceable examples, thanks to today's comm. techno, of gross exaggerations [re Saddam's imagined next intentions]. Then there have been the outright dissembling cases - fabrication of 'data' suggesting that the generalizations must be true-ish. Etc. Makes no difference to a mindset.

The drum beat to rush to begin hostilities has been palpable; the almost daily appearances of the Hawk-figures from a generation back, a few weeks ago became almost comical - not only in the surreal and ever-changing bases for panic, but for the ez predictability of the next scare-bytes. Blab-words, redundant ones in the same sentence.

And if these faux arguments prove effective (have proven effective, then) - it can mean only that Damn Few Muricans alive and pretending political opinions today, know Who-the-fuck Paul Joseph G\ufffdbbels was and what exactly He did - so well. (Fortunately this crop is a bunch of amateurs compared with PJG. Unfortunately, maybe they don't have to be very good, if the target audience isn't very good either).

Anyway, all I can be sure of is, that ignorance kills - and I see heaped dead burned bodies in our future and new legions of Murican Assassins r'Us who shall be spawned from every body part of an ex- loved-one they collect.

There have been some brief, methodically detailed and even eloquent speeches over the past couple days of radio coverage of the Congressional antics. I've heard maybe 12 hours of such. Most often though, the 'rebuttals' to those have talked right past the points enumerated; have immediately switched into jingoistic-jargon mode and bellicose threat-phrases: as if the prior speaker had said nothing.

We shall see shortly, if the final Rah Rah 'Unity' document incorporates the safeguards against megalomania, mentioned. Whatever. It SHALL be rushed into, no matter what.


Ashton
who refuses to take personal delivery of the national embarrassment due.

The ovine mob-stampeded US Congress in full-blown ex-Constitutional bluster, despite even (Yes - eloquent) pleadings that it SLOW DOWN this rush to abdicate its own responsibilities!

I dunno if Tom Paine could have envisioned such actions by people actually *elected* to power - in his day: shamelessly abdicating that Power to One Man. I mean - who can envision it Today?

Well... some of those present will be remembered for having tried to preserve the Constitutional basis of the pre-PATRIOT USA. The others shall eventually - be listed ignominiously among the sheep. And we can hear it all Live. Only hope I see is that: Byrd is a chessmaster of the Rules of the Senate. He may be the one whose performance we become most grateful for. Whether or not he succeeds.


Ashton