Guest -- I'm sure there are as many liberals and progressives as ever, but they don't seem to be combining forces or even communicating in any useful way. We desperately need a vocal opposition to counterbalance the military/industrial phalanx. In the current War-on-Iraq drumbeating that's going on in the US, the Democrats, who are supposed to be the opposition, are nowhere to be heard or seen, and it appears that Bush & Co. will continue their march toward disaster unchallenged.

This is not what I would call a functioning democracy!

Alan and Fionn, good points about the death penalty, that last vestige of feudalism.

Is that Jim Capaldi, the drummer from Traffic?

Cheers,
Michael