[MD] Steele meets Pirsig on common ground

[Platt Holden]

[Khaled] 
> This country would not have gotten to where it is if it was not for it's
> greatness. No other country in the world has managed to put a man on the
> moon. Such endeavors take hard work, money, cooperation, knowledge and
> so on. 

Putting a man on the moon is not my idea of a great national accomplishment.
compared to defeating Nazism and Communism.
 
> Society can not survive by reminiscing on its glory days. You yourself
> have stated many times that you are concerned about the future of this
> country. Your concern is about decaying of morality and influence of the
> progressive/liberal movement, and my concern is about the lack of
> education, health care and the selling out to corporate greed.

I'm not concerned about U.S. health care or corporate "greed." Public 
education, however, is a disaster, and the question is why are 
government schools so bad. Perhaps you have some answers?

> You and I have been down this road before. No, welfare does not work,
> but building a casino around each corner and calling it free market and
> free will is not right either.

You exaggerate. What do you think of government sponsored lotteries?

> I live in a town where we have more check cashing/money advance places
> than we have bank branches. No I do not want more government regulation
> and interference but 500% yearly interest rate is a crime. You may
> disagree and chose to call it free market, I look at it as lack of
> morals and principles from corporate America.

Speaking of crime, would you rather have the loan business run by the 
Mafia? 

> Back to the issue of the article in the wall street journal. We kicked
> the British off of our soil because it was considered colonialism. Every
> fourth of July we celebrate such endeavor and we are proud of it. To
> Cornwallis and the king, we were terrorists, outlaws and hooligans.

Are you suggesting that the morality of our revolution was the same as 
the current Islamic terrorism, that George Washington was morally no 
different than Zarqawi?

> Well we have been trying to do to other countries what the British did
> to us. And tose countries don't like it.

The elected government of Iraq and the millions who voted for appear to 
appreciate our getting rid of Sadam and his henchmen. 

> We complain when brutal
> dictators run countries, when they are overthrown and the new leaders
> take better care of their citizen, we call them comies and try to
> overthrow them.

What brutal communist country takes "better care of their citizens." 
Cuba perhaps? Are you willing to give up free speech for government 
health care? 

Platt