Well yes Kim C, I know you know that not all liberals want government to take care of them, and not even all liberals want the government to take care of other people, besides themselves.

I'm not particularly in favor of especially liberal government programs without knowing what they are. But I'm very much in favor of different cultural attitudes. I heard a radio show about hunger once, and not a single caller could address the issue of hunger in the U.S. Each and every one was an angry call about people in the checkout lines with food stamps, having kids they shouldn't have, buying bad food, blah blah blah. It was all anger over our tax pennies.

It's easy to kick people who are down--that would've been a better theme for the radio show. Are we really like this? It's one thing for desperate people to steal, another when we steal what we don't even need, just to get ahead of each other.

I've watched first hand while wealthy people spend tens of thousands on luxury stuff they don't even understand the good of, and will have an empty box shipped to their summer home out of state, to avoid paying the state sales tax. One of the wealthiest local families--a notoriously liberal family too--they simply sent in a check without the tax, as if it were understood to be a discount. Wealthy Citizen Discount. I don't hate these people or envy them, I feel sorry for them. They don't think they're doing anything but being smart, and I suppose, in it's way, it is a sort of rat/cheese intelligence. It's like the person who passes you on the road, then slows down--they feel like they're getting ahead. These things have consequences for communities and families.

   They opened a new waterpark here, and swept the homeless away from it, cops taking their TB cards, harrassing them. Do I want them there when I go with my kids? no. But they can't stay in a shelter without the TB card. And if they buy anything, they have to pay the tax.

   I don't worry about the fumes that escape when I fill my gas tank, or whether I could give another little squeeze before the counter turns a cent, and I don't worry about abuse of government assistance to the poor. I bet the government simply loses as much money under couch cushions. I worry about why we're so messed-up, sick, lost, and impressionable.