"Those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. And let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed. Their mistaken course stems from false notions of equality, ladies and gentlemen. Equality, rightly understood, as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences. Wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism."

In many ways I liked Goldwater. He certainly ain't what we'd recognize as a politician these days, excepting people like Kucinich and Sanders. He spoke his mind, and while I did not like a few of his stances on issues of the day, ya always knew where he stood because he'd tell ya. We ain't none of us got that in politics anymore. People liked Truman so much that they call him Harry, and when the name Harry is said in political discussion it attests to the enduring quality of honest statements from honest people, whether we agree with them or not.

I think both major parties in the US are self-destructing. My hope is they don't take the nation with them.