OK GUEST, here is what is wrong with your whole argument. You talk about the progressive agenda as if it should be the front center piece. We tried that and ended up with Reagan and his so called revolution. Things have never been the same since. Prior to allowing people of your ilk to call the shots, the Dems were viable and a major force. They shaped the progressive agenda beginning with Roosevelt and going on through the 60's. But in the late 60's and 70's, the far left wing of the party was in control. That was OK with folks like me, but ...... and hold on to your hat, cause this is a really important concept .... it ain't about me and it ain't about you. Politics is never about the far left or the far right. It is about the great middle 60%. When politics is about the far left or far right, it ain't democracy. Like it or not, most folks don't agree with how I would like things done. The difference between you and I is that I have come to understand that it is always about the middle. You may decry that fact, you may call me a sellout, whatever you feel the need to do. But in my maturing as a politico, I have come to understand that real change rarely happens at the barricades. It is a carefully crafted plan, done in small steps. I am not unhappy that folks like you are around, because the radicals always have a piece of it right, and cause the middle to think.

Let me respond to to personal things here. First off, the people I care about don't call me patronizing. Hopefully they just think I care. When I made the comment to you, I wasn't trying to patronize, I was taking a jab at you. I know, as I am a Saint, that I shouldn't do this, but that is what the Rite of Reconcilliation is for.

As to me holding private body parts, well, all I can say is that when one falls back on this it usually means they have a prurient interest in the subject. I wish I could accomodate you on this, but unfortunately for you and fortunately for me, I am spoken for. Now .... if The FAIR ONE whom I shamelessly pursue over cyber hill and dale were to ask ...............

Mick