"Did "they" get to Doug? Has Doug pumped us up to abandon us? Is Doug working with Homeland Security to identify and neutralize dissent or what they call home grown terrorism? Act like violent dissent is the answer, see who advocates openly attacking the government, and then track those IP addresses to their owners?"

Woody, I don't know if you were here some time back when Doug, illegally according to the applicable law, spilled the beans about receiving a National Security Letter, you know, those unconstitutional FBI-self-written warrants used for intimidation of citizens. At the risk of being banned myself, I have to give some serious consideration
to your remarks above.

As far as voting goes, I agree with you. The only way to reclaim a legitimate and useful vote is for as many people as possible to get involved at the grass roots level. And how many people have time to do that now, working two or three jobs in order to provide meager support for their families? Ain't ever gonna happen.

As for "polite" political discourse, or no hold barred debate, take a look at the British Parliament some time, especially when the Prime Minister is there for questions and answers. THAT is how political discourse should take shape.

Hate to see you go, Woody.

-- Kent Shaw

PS -- Quoting Ari Fleischer when he was Bush's press secretary, "Americans need to watch what they say."

I'm beginning to scratch it too.

It is nearly impossible to discuss something as dirty as politics and not have an episode of verbal angst now and then. With all the criminal antics we have witnessed from 2000 to date it's a miracle the rubber room isn't overflowing.

What good is a dog if people, and even friends aren't sure he might bite?

Parliamentary style would indeed suit us well because people like the neocons would have nowhere or place to hide.

I will miss your commentary Woody.

P.S. Ari kiss my ass.

Campaign for Liberty.

Can't blame ya woody. Time to forget politics and work on surviving while we still have access to food. Senseless waste of time at this point. Too many believers in this charade and not enough time to avert disaster. Ah, how the summer flies by. Enjoy the rest of it.

No camp for me. Good luck.

Oh, for Christ's sakes Woody. Your comment got caught by our automated spam filter and I did not see it until this morning because I spent 19 hours in an emergency room with my 84-year-old mother before they finally admitted her to the hospital at 6 a.m. this morning.

The spam filter kicked in because of your oh-so-cute attempt to use an obscenity and it did what it's supposed to do -- it placed a hold on the post and your ability to comment until I could review it. You're not the first one this has happened too and I doubt you will be the last.

Nobody "gets" to me. I have no "employer" to remove my name from this web site. I own this place just like I own everything that I'm involved in. I don't work for anyone.

I cleared your post but after reading what was posted here I have to wonder if I should even make the effort if all you're going to do is jump to wild-eyed conclusions simply because you couldn't post for a few hours.

Now I'm going to get some rest and take care of a loved one. That's far more important than reading the outrageous assumptions posted here.

My heart goes out to you, Doug, regarding your Mom. Been there, done that too many times. Hang in, man.

-- Kent Shaw

Woody. There is nobody here at CHB who has tangled with Doug more than I have. My words get clicked off so often I simply shoot an email off to him and wait to see if I have been banned again. Doug and I have fought for all those 14 years and not once did I doubt his love of America. There are few "givens" in America at this time but I would never ever doubt Doug's love for America and this forum.

I share his emotions and frustrations about what is happening to this glorious nation and I spend hours each day trying to find the key word to our breakdown of freedoms. The breakdown is so enormous that it was easier to take us down by one man and his desire for an American Empire that I blamed it on his being a born-again Christian. That was a fraud but it brought in a movement so dangerous to our individual rights that I still stand on its destruction of American values.

We forget that Doug has another life. He is responsible for his family as we all are. You know Woody, we often don't appreciate what we have here until we have to put up with another leader. When Doug was out recovering from a brain tumor, this forum went straight into the hands of the religious right. It was the third forum to suffer from this assault and I was banned and rightly so. It took years before I began to read the home page again and I saw Doug was back in charge and CHB was back in business.

He has given us a stage to expand our opinions on what changes we want made. I realize there may be more socialists than before but when the choice was a religious Republican Party, even communism was looking better than that.

We don't have to agree with each other but we must try to honestly debate our points of view. I am way out numbered in my desire for a limited government and a free enterprise economy and when I face an election where this is overlooked, I become a raging bitch. I've seen free enterprise work and I've made money investing in it. I stayed within the limits of good business and was horrified to learn Enron destroyed the energy departments in California.

We need to share our experiences here and we need to do it immediately before we elect another two-faced neoconservative in our white house. CHB is the place for us to work as a team.

Come back Woody. We need your input as much as mine here. If I can bounce back, so can you. I'm just sorry we all live so far apart that making eye contact is impossible. Some day we might have another meet up that includes Doug and Amy. The last one in Ohio I understand was a great hit. Humans need eye contact and hand holding.

My greatest adversary is usually found after one of my posts and today he may be in danger of "Dollie" and yes, I'm worried about the safety of his family. I am one of those Atheist's who bonds even with the enemy.

Might not be Doug actually posting. hmmm. could be. sometimes I'm not sure its actually ME posting some things. ;)

-- Kent Shaw

I appreciate the kind words and thoughts for my mother. We almost lost her on Monday. She's doing much better now.

Woody and Kent wonder if I am really me...or perhaps the questions is: Is me really I?

Hmmm.  Others have wondered the same thing. Perhaps I never was me. Perhaps me never existed. Maybe Doug Thompson was just a name that some folks invented back in October 1994 and many have claimed to be me over the years.

Maybe the Matrix is real and we're all just living out an illusion created by a computer program while machines drain our bodies of resources.

But if I'm not me and me is not I then who am I? Who are we? What is this place?

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area we call the Twilight Zone.

Ah, that explains everything.

To each his zone.

Churlpat -- a plutarch by any name is still a plutarch