The demand is seeming to get more popular.

Did you hear his wife last night on CNN? She is also very smart and in touch.

Way to be prescient, Paul!

What do you think of Obamas coal gasification policy

Here's my thought process behind selecting a candidate. Feel free to disagree.

Paul, it's too bad that keen political mind is going to waste in the Fourth Estate. All my entreaties to join me on the dark side in the political muck has all gone for naught.

Seriously though I encourage all of you to take part in your precinct caucus. I realize that a lot of people who may vote in regular elections are put off by caucuses. It really is easy and not nearly so scary as it may seem. You can put as much or as little into it as you feel comfortable. If you want you can show up at 6:30 cast your presidential preference ballot and walk out. Or you can stay until 8pm and participate fully.

Also it should be said that the votes cast for president on Tuesday count as far as how delegates are distributed to Hillary or Barack Obama. There is no backroom dealings down the road as far as to whom Minnesota's delegates will go. So if you want to see Barack Obama as your next president then you need to show up on Tuesday and vote.

And if you want Hillary Clinton then you need to show up on Wednesday and vote.

the DFL caucus is at the central admin building (the central hillside clock tower) at 6:30 or 7 on tuesday. more at dfl.org.

It doesn't matter whether you drink the blue Kool-Aid, the red Kool-Aid, or the green Kool-Aid; you will still suffer.

Government doesn't offer any solutions - only more government.

Well put really. I saw Mondale at Umd the other day. I have to say I wasn't impressed. Same old party line. Live in fear. You are a victim. Its not your fault its the other guys. Believe what I tell you and you will be safe and secure.

Insert finger in mouth. Make gaging sound.

I, for one, deeply mistrust and despise government, an unnecessary, in fact counterproductive, imposition between ourselves and our beneficent corporate overlords. Power to the (proper sort of) people!

yeah because you know, roads and schools and libraries and social security and police and fire departments and all laws and programs to protect people with disabilities and inspections to ensure that the local restaurant is not serving e coli burgers or that airplanes aren't colliding in mid air, and the roads get plowed, the street lights get turned on, and so on and so on.

You may well disagree with many things government does, and how they do it (lord knows I do), but to blindly say that government does no good is childish. The politics of scale don't really allow for a decentralized, non political/government population in communities above a few hundred at most.

Rail against how your government operates, not the fact that we need it.

Thanks for making me think twice edgeways, Your right. I feel so much better knowing there is a government to provide me with the social security I need to know I will need to survive as I get older. I know it’s the reward for being one of the good, sheepish wage slaves my whole life. I am so glad we have such great shepards. As long as I use my money to buy the things I am told I want, instead of saving to take care of myself. And Yeah, We need roads and airplanes to get to all those important places we need to go. Like Cancun or the Bahamas so that we can get a nice break and not have to think about reality. And of course we need inspectors. I mean I would not want to be one of those people who actually learns to take care of themselves. Like learn to cook my own healthy food or even know what that’s is . Its easier for my government to tell me where it is safe to eat and where it is not. I will believe what I am told. And the police thank god for them. They are doing a great job of keeping all of us in our places. We would not want anyone to rock the boat. Thanks again.

Chuck, you're such a rebel. Such an informed anarchist. Thank god there are no gray areas in life, only very distinct spheres of black and white. Next time you need to visit your dying mother in another state, forget the airlines. Just put out your informed thumb and hitch! Hopefully you'll get there in time.

It sounds like a fun government-free idyll you're describing, Chuck. What do you call it? Somalia?

You right to believe that things are black and white would be to believe that there is a defined difference between right and wrong. Not gray area of uncertainty defined by government or the religions that control them. Thank that god Bill Clinton put a end to the situation. The situation as we were told thru the media was happening and we believed.

Before the Islamic Courts Union took control, Somalia was the only country in the world without a functioning state. Abdo Vingaker, a Somalian living in Sweden, was quoted in an article by BBC as saying: "I am from Somalia and to live without government is the most dangerous system." The article went on to discuss the abject poverty experienced by the citizens of this country. An economic survey by the World Bank found that the distribution of wealth was more equal, and the extent of extreme poverty lesser than in governed West African nations. Scholarly research indicates that living standards in Somalia increased — in absolute terms, relative to the government era, and relative to other African nations — during this period..

Wag that dog baby.

I was surprised to see how old Obomba was in todays paper. Someone on here mentioned how Obomba would fix the mess the whining baby boomers created. Heck Obomba is very close if not a baby boomer himself. Either way I will continue to help out the younger generation when I can and would hope they will help me out where I need it. I have experience they can't possibly match and they have the youth and strength I can't summon anymore.

You can put your hand in my old one. I am not a old man yet, nor am I a young man anymore. But,I understand that experience only comes with age. You have the right to eat first. I"ll take whats left over with my head down.

Oh, Hey Anarchy, here is something I got from a friend. Maybe you will appreciate as much as I did.

Recently a friend came home to visit for a few days. She lives in Duluth when she is not traveling. I am glad she has choose Duluth over the cities. It can be overbearing here and she has always been a free spirit. When she left she gave me a braid a sweet grass.

Later that night I lit it and when the smell touched my nose I was transported into my own memories.

I am 8 years old. At this time my parents, sister and myself are living in South Dakota close to the Pine Ridge Reservation. I have a friend who I spent time playing with and she and her family lived on the reservation. Everyone called her CC. They were very poor but so were we. But, as a child those things didn’t matter. I guess I had not been taught yet to think the native people were different than us. We would run wild, always followed closely by a pack of 6 or 8 skinny dogs thru her grandparents yard past the old broken down cars and piles of rocks and firewood to the center where there was a fire pit and dome shaped tents. CC said it was okay for us to play here even thou the dogs would not. CC said it was okay, if we only spoke in whispers.

One hot summer day a powerful thunderstorm was taking shape in the western sky before our very eyes. CC said we had to go inside her grandparents little house so the big birds would not carry us away and eat us.

I had never been inside the little house before. I don’t think I had ever heard either of her grandparents speak. Mostly they just smiled or laughed or shook their heads or hands to communicate.

We sat on the dirt floor between the her grandparents while the rain pounded on the tin roof and sounds of thunder surrounded us. I could see that that her grandparents were both quietly crying. I knew neither spoke much English so I asked CC why they were crying. She put her hand an her grandfathers knee and asked him in their language.

He picked up a braid of sweet grass and lit it with a match. As it smoldered a sweet smelling smoke enveloped us. He looked at me a spoke slowly pausing often so this amazing little girl could interpret his words to me.

CC didn’t look at me when she spoke. She keep her eyes closed and laid her head on his lap. “He says, this place where you live is like your mother. She gives you all you need to live. But she is sick. The people will feed her poison and pick at her sores. They are killing her. As she gets worse her sickness will become the peoples sickness. But they will pretend they a are not sick. They will say they are well. The sickness will make them blind but they will think they can see. He says it makes him sad for you. But I don’t have to worry because I won’t be here to see it. That is why he is crying.”

Now I am the one who is crying as I write this. I guess I had forgot about that day. Its amazing how a scent can bring back a memory.

We left South Dakota soon after this and moved to Minneapolis. My father told me when I became a adult that the reason we moved was because CCs grandfather told him it would be dangerous for us to stay there. It was 1970. The following years there became a living nightmare and CC unfortunately died.

I guess I was warned. Maybe we all were and just didn’t pay attention.

I just wanted to share this with you. I realize that my generation is to blame for a lot of our problems. I hope your generation can get us back on the right track.

edgeways,

Is it any less childish to believe that none of the things you mention would get done without government to do them?

Is it less childish to fawn over political candidates as if they were knights (or princesses) in shining armour coming to rescue you.

The truth is they don't give a damn about you. They seek office for the power that it affords them.

Stop drinking the kool-aid!

From the hand of the government man,
Come these good things...

roads and schools and libraries and social security and police and fire departments and all laws and programs to protect people with disabilities and inspections to ensure that the local restaurant is not serving e coli burgers or that airplanes aren't colliding in mid air, and the roads get plowed, the street lights get turned on, and so on and so on.

And corrupt politicians, no vote Red Plans, Honda Civic sized potholes just outside the Wendy's restaurant, a war on some drugs, no-knock home invasions by steroid-popping cops dressed up in battlegear, a war on the flying public, a military war against swarthy people half way around the world, wiretaps on your phone, scans of your internet usage, restrictions on your right to travel, to speak freely, to defend yourself, to associate with whom you wish.

That's the power of politics, raw and brutish.

As for the intended purpose of this post: I've got to get behind Obama now that my fairytale fringe candidates are out. He's slightly more in line with my personal views than Hillary and I think a victory for him would send a message to Washington and the world that a new generation of voters has arrived.

You won't see me at the caucus because I'll be voting using the new dems abroad system. Hope it works!

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Off topic

Probably the most childish thing people can do on the internet is hang around forums for "topic x" and type a bunch of nonsense about how x sucks and why you hate it. We call it trolling, and it's mostly for 13 year old boys if I remember my school years correctly.

Probably the second most childish thing (a new discovery) would have to be making an argument for anarchy using Somalia as a POSITIVE example. This is especially true for us here in Minnesota, because with the sizable Somalian community in MSP it really takes so little effort to be informed. Those people are here for a reason and, to quote one of my friends down there, it's sure not for the weather.

Thanks Chuck. I hear ya.