>> ... Jim. Several weeks ago, there was a chain email titled "Sixteen things
>> you have to believe to be a Republican" circulating the internet. Did you see it?
>> Did you respond to as forcefully? Did you just nod your head and chuckle?

Didn't see it, George. I generally don't respond to chain emails, so even if I had seen it, probably wouldn't have responded. If it was as unbalanced as this piece, was posted here and I saw it, I probably would respond. In fact, post it here and I WILL respond.

I have said here before and will say again now -- I think extreme reflexive political idealogy of ANY stripe is misguided and potentially dangerous. I am a libertarian and personally disagree with almost everything espoused by the extreme left and the extreme right of the modern American political spectrum (and much of what is said by those in the middle, too).

I have nothing against republicans, per se (or democrats, either) -- it is extreme political views that I dislike and with which I disagree. Not long ago, I posted a message here which said:

>> Of the national political figures I most admire, four are republicans
>> (John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Colin Powell and Arnold Schwarzenegger)
>> and one is a democrat (Wes Clark). I also like San Francisco Mayor
>> Gavin Newsom, but would not yet characterize him as a national politician.
>> Despite the varying politics of those six individuals, they share a
>> characteristic which I consider the single most important in a national leader.

You can see the post in the archives at:

http://www.thechipboard.com/cgi-bin/tcbarc11/tcbarc11.pl?read=350472

Interestingly, this post had ZERO responses and not one person ever asked me "what is the characteristic" I admire in these people. Please notice, two of the four republicans can fairly be characterized as conservative, two as moderate. Wes Clark is also a moderate. Of the six, only Newsom (a democrat) is significantly liberal in his political views (though I can make a good argument that his decision to allow gay marriages in San Francisco was based on classically conservative thinking).

----- jim o\-S