[MD] Sin Part 1

[Case]

[Platt]
If we cut and run, freedom and liberty is doomed in Iraq.

[Case]
DUH! Like it is guaranteed if we stay?

[Platt]
Terrorists are not subject to international law. The Geneva convention 
does not apply.

[Case]
Like the only good Indian is a dead Indian? Or like sending people with
slanty eyes, to Manzanar? Or stringing up dark skinned men who flirt with
light skinned women?

[Platt]
If I'm caught with a bomb strapped to my waist, a machine gun in my 
hands and a towel covering my face, my rights are forfeited, yes.

[Case]
The bomb might be probable cause for an arrest and charges. The rest is
legal.

[Platt]
Pay or risk jail. You call that freedom?

[Case]
You think we should let freeloaders into the system?

[Platt]
That's a  supreme court decision I'm not familiar with.

[Case]
I'm not surprised.

[Platt]
Not without threatening force, never overtly of course,  but always 
implied.

[Case]
You don't think the government should use force?

[Platt]
Thanks for the historical correction. You're right --  takers shaft the 
makers. (I love the way you define the wealthy as "irregular" folk.)

[Case]
Irregular folks would be those two or more standard deviations from the
mean. It is the shape of the curve that matters.

[Platt]
Perhaps if I remind you of the millions slaughtered by their own 
governments you'll get an inkling of my point.

[Case]
Why do I have to keep reminding you this is about the Sins of We the people.
Are you trying to bring up slavery and the Native American genocide again?
Are you talking about the Trail of Tears and the Seminole Wars?

[Platt]
Stupid in hindsight, perhaps. But at the time when all the world's 
intelligence agencies were saying that Saddam was stockpiling WMD and 
developing atomic weapons, even "We the People" as represented in 
Congress sanctioned "going in." As Yogi Berra said, " We made too many 
wrong mistakes" afterwards -- like not being ruthless.

[Case]
Stupid for believing the cynical distortions manipulated by the
Administration. George Tenant, Bob Graham and others including British
intelligence have all said this was crap. The French and the Germans smelled
it for what it was from the start. 

[Platt]
I wish. I'm a minority of one and the majority strips away my property every
April 15. 

[Case]
What makes me unhappy is when people who think like you do show up for
revenge on the first Tuesday in November.   

[Platt]
Surely you know that since the Constitutional Convention of 1787,
elected representatives cannot vote to overthrow our system of   
government and the Bill of Rights which, along with the Declaration, is 
the basis of individual intellectual freedom. I suppose of course we 
could have a Communist-style revolution if our educational system 
dominated by left-wingers manages to indoctrinate enough young people 
in the glories of Marxism.

[Case]
I have showed you several times in this thread that what you say above is
nonsensical and anti-American. If this you don't love this country and it's
economic system why don't you walk and walk and hop the fence?

[Platt]
Because of the history of Germany, Russia, China and a few other 
"People's Republics"  in the 20th century.

[Case]
If you are implying here that the current administration and the political
philosophy spawned by Ronald Reagan is the antithesis of the American Vision
of liberty and justice for all, then the comparison does seem apt.

> [Case]
> I agree but I also agree that laws can be enacted to correct this. 

[Platt]
That we have to is a problem.

[Case]
That we can, is the point.