An old friend once said that he favored hereditary monarchy over democracy. He explained: "The hereditary monarch is trained for the job from birth, and within recent generations at least, he or she usually doesn't even want it. Generally these days, kings and queens do at least a halfway decent job, or at least try to avoid looking like a complete jackass. In a democracy, leadership goes to people who want it. That makes me immediately suspicious. If somebody wants the job, they're probably the last person on earth who should have it!"

But since we have the system we have, I'm afraid I have to go with Gore/Lieberman. One advantage of Gore getting in there is the book he wrote eight or nine years ago, "Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit." He says some pretty heavy-duty stuff in that, and if he doesn't get on the stick about environmental issues, that book is sure as hell going to come back to haunt him. All in all, I think he's generally okay. I really favor Nader, but he's an idealist and I'm afraid that if he actually got elected, the "Powers That Be" would eat him alive, if not assassinate him. I'm afraid, sadly but realistically, it takes more of a Machiavellian to be effective in that job. Sigh. . . .

In response to Lonesome EJ: Although fairly close, I don't quite fit the demographics as outlined. I'm at least middle-aged and on the brink of geezerhood. I have never owned a pair of sandals in my life. Granted, I would much rather sit around strumming my six string (classic) rather than hold down a steady job, but since I'm retired from the dreaded nine-to-five, I can and do. My main job right now -- self imposed -- is writing a retrospective on the folk music scene in Seattle during the Fifties and Sixties. And I seem to be spending more time milling around the Mudcat these days. I have no knowledge of stock trading (and my Social Security check doesn't supply my with enough funds to fiddle with even if I did). Also, I was never a member of the SDS. In fact, during the Sixties I was an Ayn Rand fanatic!

I'm a lot mellower now. . . .

Don Firth