Art and Amos,

I think we were all casting around for representations of the aspects of these modern day despots that would serve as intellectual shorthand to what we see happening. Your attempt to put it in a framework is laudable. I suggested Reagan as Lear because in the end his selfish acts cause the nation a lot of pain, and he couldn't see what was in front of him. With Dubya, I see someone without Aldzheimer's aiming at besting Reagan's attempt to bust unions and make the rich richer. Dubya is blinded by his empire-building hubris. Alexander the Great got away with it. Others didn't--so who were they, that we can use as examples? You've given us a lot to think about. Too bad those "average" Americans who won't actually get squat in tax breaks aren't doing the math, they're being lulled by the demogogery. I remember a placard that rotated in a frame, various sayings that my junior high school English teacher wanted us to learn. "Demogogue: Copperhead with a golden tongue." Bush's tongue sure ain't golden, but it's amazing how many people are buying into his Doublespeak!

SRS