George W Bush (The Puppet Masters) (Robert A Heinlein)

[Dave]

You may have read the reports last week that George W Bush was being fed replies to debate questions via an earpiece and a clearly visible wire between his shoulderblades during the first Presidential debate.

Both the White House and the Bush campaign both repeatedly denied the claims, saying first that the photo was doctored, then when it was shown to be in the video that it was simply a wrinkle. Then rubbishing the claims by likening them to Kennedy conspiracy theories. They did confirm that Bush was not wearing a bullet-proof vest, so the question remains - what is the rectangular shaped bulge on his back?

No one has put forward the obvious reason for the bulge on his back -- Bush is under the control of a Puppet Master!

[engelbach]

So is most of the media.

[manephelien]

I'm fearing the next president of the US will be Nehemiah Scudder under another name...

[Dave]

It's three years since I posted that, but it does certainly explain a few things on reflection. And yes I agree, a Puppet Master is preferable to a Nehemiah Scudder. When George and Tony Blair (The Axis of Evangelicals) went to pray together I felt something was not right in the world.

[Liz Pf]

And I'm keeping my eye on countries to flee to, if "Scudder" does get elected. New Zealand? Uraguay?

Though I have hopes that if the USA takes that big a swing to the right, New England will secede. I often feel like I'm living in a different country, anyway.

[Brown Rat]

I've been thinking that Canada would be my choice to flee to.

[Curt Chiarelli]

As a matter of fact, I downloaded the forms for Canadian permanent residency a month ago. I scored a 7 out of a possible 10 points on my adaptability test (I'm afraid my understanding of French is, at best, rudimentary). Not that Canada represents all that is perfect in this most imperfect of worlds, but I'm fed up with being undervalued by my country, by being told every day in inumerable ways both great and small that unless you're a multi-billionaire corporate ogre you're not a true constituent of this society - a society of which I've contributed to so much over the past 2 decades.

It would indeed be foolish to look to foreign climes for one's saviour, but my hand has been forced. I've been told by the forces that are presently running this vicious corporation called America into the ground that I and everything I represent is worthless, even antiquated. Funny though, they still demand my tax dollars. I - like all of you - are just being USED. And I can no longer stomach it. I want out.

It's not going to make for easy stages, but I can tell you that present day America is not the country I was raised to love and believe in. She has transformed itself through arrogance into some vile doppelganger of her potetial glory.

To give you a good idea of where I'm coming from and how much this hurts me to say this, I'm the guy who always gets emotional every time I read Thomas Jefferson's lovely wording of The Declaration of Independence. And it's not just because he's such a damned eloquent writer either, it's because I actually believe in the nobility of those words. I still do. They represent a vision of life now forsaken in our land.

Perhaps someday we'll see the reality of America match her promise. But I doubt it. Not on her present course at any rate.

[pyan]

i don't know whether you've read any Harry Turtledove, Curt, but try this:

The Two Georges

(skip down to Social and Political themes to avoid the plot spoilers.)

[Curt Chiarelli]

Originally Posted by pyanfaruk

i don't know whether you've read any Harry Turtledove, Curt, but try this:

The Two Georges

(skip down to Social and Political themes to avoid the plot spoilers.)

Hi Pyan:

Thanks for the link. Such conjectural scenarios are always fascinating to me. I've heard of this book, but have not had the opportunity to read it.

I somewhat doubt that dirigibles would be the preferred transportation of choice, considering their abundant hazards. However, it does sound rather like wistful thinking, a prime example of technology conforming to a human need to live at a humane pace!

[Allegra]

Ever thought of coming to the good old Europe? You guys won't miss home much - McDonalds are everywhere so as the US military bases.

[Curt Chiarelli]

Thank you Allegra . . . . that makes me feel so much better.

[j. d. worthington]

I recall, many years ago, seeing a t-shirt stating: "The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth; the rest of us are heading for the stars" (or somesuch)... Well, I want to know: How do I commandeer the next transport off this beautiful but damned little mudball....?

[Curt Chiarelli]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

I recall, many years ago, seeing a t-shirt stating: "The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth; the rest of us are heading for the stars" (or somesuch)... Well, I want to know: How do I commandeer the next transport off this beautiful but damned little mudball....?

Ah, I wish I knew! I'd be sending you, Pyan, Nesa, Allegra, SpaceShip, Gollum, Mosaix and Kyethulu tickets for X-mas! Problem is, the tickets are priced so astronomically high that only a congressman or a corporate sociopath could afford them!

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Curt Chiarelli

Ah, I wish I knew! I'd be sending you, Pyan, Nesa, Allegra, SpaceShip, Gollum, Mosaix and Kyethulu tickets for X-mas! Problem is, the tickets are priced so astronomically high that only a congressman or a corporate sociopath could afford them!

Ummm... that's why I used the word "commandeer"...

[pyan]

Thank you for including me, Curt!

I've always had regrets about living in the "false dawn" era of the 1969 moon landings - 50 years earlier, it was unthinkable, and 100 years later, it will hopefully be commonplace, and that is a really annoying time to be.
It really pisses me off that we had the start, had the technology, had the people - and then went up the blind alley of the Shuttle, albeit with the best possible motives, the re-usable spaceship. We also lacked the political will, the courage to stand up against the space-programme knockers, but we did have the general blind stupidity of humanity.
How far would we be by now, if the USA, the UK, the USSR, China and Germany, say, had pooled their knowledge and resources in the 1970's? As it was, we got that close to getting off the "mudball", as jd puts it so accurately - but now, not only am I unlikely to see the "great leap outwards" in my lifetime, but neither will my small cousins.

Perhaps I should have put this in the "rant" thread, as well!

Ummm... that's why I used the word "commandeer"...

Are you sure you're not a certain kilt-wearing Howard, jd?