Once again, we have a situation with Obama and company playing elitist. Obama got in front of an audience and said America needs to drop driving SUVs and using so much air conditioning. Of course, right after the speech, he jumped into an SUV with the air conditioner blowing full blast.

To any sane individual, this is hypocrisy at its height. But see, that's the problem with many on both the right and left...for them it is not.

Once again I go back to the book I loathe so much, Plato's Republic, to explain the situation that is going on with things like this, or Al Gore's ranch able to power a small town while he whines about global warming.

In Republic, Plato envisions what he considers the perfect society. Three layers comprise this society - the Intellectuals, the Soldiers, and everyone else. The Intellectuals make the rules. The only voting that occurs involves those selected for this elite group. The common folk and the soldiers do not vote on anything. They just sit there and realize, gee...these Intellectuals are so smart, they know what's best for us moreso than we do. So, they sit there and take it. This means the Intellectuals are immune to their own pronouncements, if the want to be, as they 'know better'.

This is exactly the mentality of the liberal elite running the Democratic party. They seem to think they know what is best for the masses, but the elite, being the Intellectuals above, can exempt themselves from the rules. Many in the Republican party hierarchy think this same way these days.

I'm sure you can see the obvious problems with this, but I'll spell them out anyways. Freedom is surpressed, if the Intellectuals want it to be. Only they have the freedom to think and act, everyone else must obey their orders. This is not a free society that Plato envisions, and is why Aristotle challenged this view.

There is no room for capitalism, religion, or other things that promote diversity in this kind of society. It is a command-driven economy and society. For most of us, this is totalitarian, and some would call it Marxist or Naziism.

Well, surprise...Marx based Marxism on Plato's Republic, or a variant thereof. Surprise, so did Adolf Hitler base his Mein Kampf off of Plato's Republic. The only difference between the two was the forces of internationalism vs nationalism. Read Marx and read Hitler, and you see how much the two parallel with the exception of this one factor.

We conservatives and libertarians must reject this supposed 'perfect society', because it isn't perfect. This is a society envisioned by a philosopher before weapons were made of steel, let alone things like gunpowder, or technology existing today like telephones and computers. This is a society where ignorance was assumed, and thus why the Intellectuals were isolated and led because they were the only ones informed.

That is not the society of today. With cell phones, the internet, the media, and other avenues to get at the facts, we are all Intellectuals if we so desire. We are not preselected, like Plato envisioned, to become an Intellectual. We make it happen ourselves.

We cannot keep putting into power people who think like Plato on either side of the aisle. Unfortunately, because too many people are buying into the Republic's false premises, we end up like we are today, on the verge of destroying our working society trying to emulate a 2,200 year old philosopher's vision. A vision that, when attempted previously over those years, has failed miserably time and time again.

Disaster recovery plans. Everyone has them. Even the incompetent boobs at FEMA have them.

Except my company.

This is what you get when the people in government have their priorities all screwed up. As you may or may not know, I work for a merged city-county IT department...who can't get along with itself, let alone with the customers some days.

It's time for me to vent a little on this, as I'm just tired of saying 'I told you so'. This is not rocket science we are talking about here, this is about data recovery in the case of a disaster. You know, like a tornado blowing through the center of town, etc.

Let's add to that data integrity issues as well. I've been working for three weeks to find a way to convert an old postgresql database into the db2 format needed to run the java application built to replace my little, poorly designed php application. Not possible. The data is too mucked up in my system, combined with the idiosyncracies of DB2. Thus, the solution is data entry.

Between the two areas, my mental state is fractured.

At least in 2 weeks, I'll be in Las Vegas at DefCon 16, on a 'business trip' that I get to pay for myself...because my company is too cheap to do so, even though I'm the guy who has to defend our web servers and applications from the Chinese.

Detect a little bitterness? Naw, couldn't be...

I have been involved over the past week in the controversy and discussion concerning social networks and their restrictions by Congress against their members using them.

First, I have to say this is the first issue in a long time that has really gotten me motivated into getting the word out to friends and others I know. I'm glad to have discussed things with Representative John Culberson of Texas over Twitter. Twitter is a great service. (I'm @Ltfngr there)

Second, I find it sad that many on the left do not understand how restrictions of any sort on free speech will hurt them just as much as it hurts us on the right, no matter our profession. Congress should be the place, if anywhere, where free expression of ideas should be allowed. Now, I have no problem with putting a couple of things in place - no Twittering/Qiking on the floor, for example - but honestly, members of Congress were elected to lead, not cower like sheep when the topic of Internet accessibility is brought up.

Third, this entire controversy just shows how out of touch both sides' leadership has been when it comes to the Internet and social networks. Moveon.org, who I rail about usually, was a pioneer in using social networks to get their message out. It is time for the right to get their head out of the sand and do the same, and do it better.

Fourth, and last, though the truth can get obscured and denied on the Internet, when the truth finally spreads, it triumphs. Failure in using the Internet to spread the truth has led to idiots out there believing all sorts of conspiracy theories, social marxism, and blinds people to the intentions of people. Traditional media cowers and is afraid of the truth getting out on the Internet, and those who got the jump with their lies are beginning to be exposed (again, Moveon, Code Pink, Acorn, and other marxists nee 'progressives'). That's why some are jumping to try and block open discussions by Congress over social networks. They are afraid of the truth getting out there. Congressional leaders are afraid of the truth of their incompetence getting out to the masses.

And before you bash me, please understand there are some, like Dan Young of Alaska, who are labelled as Republican that I have similar problems with. The idea behind compassionate conservatism have been co-oped by those in favor of big government that claim to be from the right. The more light that opens up, the more these sorts will be exposed for the frauds they truely are, regardless of party.

So, the House Democrats are so afraid of the truth getting out to the people and constituents, they want to restrict members access to the Internet social networking sites, such as Twitter, Blogger, and YouTube.

Please note: All of these sites are FREE, though they may have advertisements. Facebook, Myspace, etc. do not violate any sort of 'franking' rules what so ever. The restrictions placed on 'franking' are primarily so members do not spend taxpayer funds on campaign messages that are strictly politicking, versus real information.

Surprise, all members have campaign websites that DO just that. At least, all members that have at least a bit of intelligence.

Here we have the Democrats, who so many of the liberal 'techies' out there support, attempting to stifle free speech protected by the First Amendment over the Internet.

This is a violation not only of that, but of Net Neutrality, advocated by...you guessed it, as many liberals as conservatives out there!

Think about it - Democrats: The Party of Censorship. A few videos, a few ads, and I think a lot of the young people support currently backing Obama suddenly begin having second thoughts. This is an issue that could be the key to driving a large wedge between the Congress and presidential vote, let alone between the presidential candidates.

I hope the weak willed in the Republican party finally begin the push back against the 'inevitable' Democratic victory in the House by just pounding this issue to death, endorsing Net Neutrality for all - meaning all forms of media.

Let's take back this issue, shall we?

Google Shuts Down Anti-Obama Sites on its Blogger Platform, NewsBusters.

What they did was go to the Blogspot addresses found on the site of the NoObama coalition called Just Say No Deal and constantly hit the "mark as spam" link so that Google's Blogger would be flooded with spam warnings. This caused Google/Blogger to freeze the sites marked.

Apparently, this campaign merely took advantage of Google/Blogger's flawed system of finding spam blogs. So, it looks like what we have here is an Obama dirty trick to shut down political opposition. Looks like Obmatons aren't much for that whole democracy thing, eh?

Interesting little tidbit there, isn't it? This is the kind of garbage the Communists supporting Obama engage in, in order to stifle free speech. This is what is coming when Obama is elected. Expect stories like this to become more and more frequent as they try to suppress the truth about their Manchurian candidate.

How many homicides are committed in Washington DC in a year?

So far, according to the police's website, there has been 65 through May. Down 1 from last year. (why the website says -2 just proves more things)

In comparison, as of April, Omaha had 11, equal to last year.

Omaha operates under the state's concealed-carry law. Washington DC, twice the size of Omaha, had 6 times the homicide rate. They operate under a total gun ban.

Sorry, Obama...once again, the liberal theory flies into the wall of the real.

On how many issues are the liberal intellectual 'theories' about how things should work fail? Gun control is but just one of those areas. But why the RNC, McCain, and those wealthy enough to be able to help them make ad buys do not act on this sort of information is beyond me. I am beginning to hark wistfully back to the days of 'straight talking' Ross Perot. Though I think the man was crazy, he at least put the statistics in front of people.

I've decided it is time for me to be even more vocal. Yes, this means I am finally enabling comments on the blog.

Due to what I have seen at other conservative blogs, I have had commenting turned off for quite a while now on this one. I did not want to sit and have to play policeman while I have other things to do. Contrary to what you may think, it was not because I did not want criticism of my views, but I want true, constructive criticism. Unfortunately, there are too many people who cannot behave rationally when it comes to the Internet.

What I am not going to promise is a more regular schedule of postings on the blog, though the comments may unintentionally do that. The last time I promised to put more comments onto the blog, it was 8 months before I started posting again.

The Democrats are about to run out of real estate. There is only a few more months of the 'Love Guru' influence on Obama before he has to start stating what 'change' he is really touting.

Those in the know realize the 'change' Obama is for is change towards a government more in line with that of the National Socialists. Do you really think Obama will legalize drug usage beyond medical marijuana? Do you really think Obama will stop the attacks on piracy by the RIAA and MPAA (especially considering most of the members in the sponsoring organizations of those two entities have endorsed him)? Do you actually think we'll get out of Iraq? Do you think he will actually rescind the Patriot Act?

If you believe any of that, you had better look again at the candidates running. Obama is the candidate for those advocating a police state, not freedom. It amazes me how he can put up a smokescreen and avoid the truth like he does.

A huge deal is being made in the news media concerning Scott McClellan's new book that supposedly 'exposes the truth' about the Bush administration.

Of course, all those media outlets are neglecting to state the publisher of the book is owned by a company controlled by George Soros. Remember the story a few weeks ago about David Brock (the previous Republican turned ultraliberal) going to meet with Soros in New York about something? I am guessing McClellan's book was the subject of that meeting.

McClellan, like his namesake from the Civil War, has decided to harm a sitting president in the middle of a war based primarily on promoting freedom by coming out and attacking him. Now, whether he turns out as rabid as Brock has will be determined. However, this does prove one major thing about the Bush administration even if most of the speculation in the book about what happened in meetings McClellan did not attend is not true:

The Bush administration's hiring practices leave something to be desired.

This is why 'yes-men' are the worst possible thing to surround yourself with when you are in a position of authority. Sorry, Scotty, but that's what you were. You may now be having a crisis of conscience, but you were a yes-man. Now, you are a yes-man to Brock and Soros because you want to be liked, even though the only reason you kept the job you had was because you kowtowed well.

Let's be honest, McClellan's ineptitude at his job is one of the prime reasons Bush's ratings are now abysmal. The decline started because of McClellan's inability to be a spokesman. That started the Bush administration on the wrong foot, and it has spiraled downward ever since.

This from Lynn Abbey:

I'm still sorting this out myself, but realizing that pretty much
everyone on this list is at least peripherally aware that I was
married to Bob Asprin, I thought I should pass the word...

Bob died yesterday afternoon (May 22, 2008). It was sudden and
unexpected, probably a heart attack. A friend was supposed to take
him to the airport as he was scheduled to be Guest-of-Honor at Marcon
this weekend.

She found him on his sofa with one of Terry Prachett's books open on
his chest.

I hope he had simply dozed off and passed in his sleep.

When my thoughts are a bit more organized, I plan to post them...and
some pictures from the good times...on my blog
(http://www.lynnabbey.com/blog).

It's a strange, strange day....

Lynn

I am losing way, way too many of my inspirations this year. First, William Buckley, then Gary Gygax, and now the sudden death of Robert Asprin, author of the Thieves World, Phule's Company, and other books.

I feel old.

I am really getting fed up with my own party on a number of things.

First and foremost: let's get our house in order before we can claim to have the ability to get the country in order.

There have been way too many philanderers, cheats, etc. elected to office as Republicans. The fact Dan Young, to take an example, is still leading in the polls even after the 'road to nowhere' garbage is just shameful. He is the poster boy for earmark corruption. The fact the national organization turns a blind eye to people like him just helps with Obama's 'change' bull.

Next, the party needs to get some spine. Stop trying to kiss up to the press, they will never be on our side. In the end, it is truth that will win the day. Yes, the American people CAN handle the truth when they are presented it. It is the Left that has to run behind smoke and mirrors.

Tell the truth about Obama's communist advisers. Tell the truth about his affiliations with black separatist terrorists. Tell the truth about his hatred of Jews and the Israeli state. Tell the truth about his 'change' being nothing but a smokescreen in order to force us to a lower standard of living.

Tell the truth about candidates running for the House and Senate that say one thing, but then do another when they get elected. Show them examples. Use their old campaign promises against them.

Point out the truth about the rape gangs supported by Saddam Hussein. Point out that the standard of living of the average Iraqi is improving by leaps and bounds. Show how women, and religion, are no longer being suppressed due to our invasion of Iraq. Stop letting the Left frame the war with the entire WMD mistake, when that was but one reason to get rid of Hussein. Put some of the Iraqis who have welcomed us to free them on our advertisements.

Third, stop hamstringing ourselves by not talking about the real issues. The Left politicizes the war, yet we cannot? That's ridiculous. It is time to put it out there. Even if you believe in climate change, point out that we've already been wrong on some things like the ozone layer, so emphasize more money for research, not radical plans based on some ubiquitous 'carbon footprint' baloney that has only been concocted within the past two years.

We've already blown it by putting up as our nominee one of the worst candidates we could find. Now we're stuck with him, but that doesn't mean we cannot prove Obama and his buddies at Daily KOS and MoveOn are infinitely worse for the kind of 'change' they will attempt to bring. 'Change' for the sake of change never, ever works out.

I was listening to Mike & Mike this morning, and they had a little argument concerning whether a football coach watching film was more or less intellectual than a chess match.

Here's the problem: I would never let anyone called an 'intellectual' or 'academic' make policy decisions, decide our leadership in the country, etc. Of course, the 'eggheads' (as mentioned by a Clinton supporter) all are on the Obama bandwagon, and yet another reason not to support the man.

Of course, you college students out there who want to be a part of that 'intellectual' crowd are going to wonder why I make such a statement.

An academic works in the field of theory. You make a theory, try to prove or disprove it. If it is disproven, you create a new theory and start again. If it is proven, then you declare it good and move to another area to start the process again.

An academic, though, does not adapt on the fly. They deal in the black and white, not the shades of gray. Something is either right or wrong when it comes to theories.

Now, a football coach, businessman, farmer, or even president of the United States does not have the luxury of a stop and start. A farmer, if his crops are not growing at a slow pace, does not have the luxury of halting everything, replanting his crop, and trying again. A president does not have the luxury of stopping an action or policy suddenly and restopping it, as the momentum is carried through. Even if a mistake is made, that mistake carries on for a long time and in many cases needs to be 'rode out' to the end. It isn't enough for a coach to stop and start a defense because it does not work, he has to adapt the defense as the game is being played and fix any fundamental errors through teaching between games. He can't just dump the entire defensive team and start over.

In the lives of non-academics, actions have far reaching consequences. Things can change over days, months, and even years. For an example, we just cannot suddenly stop Nafta. That has consequences. We cannot just stand up and walk out of Iraq. That has consequences not only for us, for the Iraqi people. You can debate until you are blue in the face about whether we should have attacked in the first place (Personally, I wish the secondary reasons were emphasized more on this, as I think going in WAS a good idea), but you just can't 'stop the theory' like I describe above that the academics want. The world does not work like a laboratory.

Here's another example: the global warming crowd have whined for years about the fact the ozone layer hole needs closing. We must close the hole, they trumpeted. Now, the hole IS closing, and guess what? It's causing MORE warming by doing so. Again, the world is not a lab. Actions have consequences, and many of those consequences cannot be foreseen even by the academics and their theories.

It is frustrating that we are going to elect the academics' chosen candidate for president. By the time we all realize he's in over his head, the damage will be done.

Forty eight years ago, due to the fact certain individuals could not read the Constitution, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act.

Around the time of that action, and the various marches and demonstrations, Martin Luther King spoke the words "I have a dream." He dreamed of a world where skin color made no difference. He dreamed of a world where 'content of a man's character' was what defined him in society.

Forty years later...

We have a black political candidate who, like other 'leaders' in the community cannot get over, not only forty years ago, but 140 years ago. Martin Luther King asked for men to look forward, to propel our country to greatness. The popular black leadership have no desire to try and move forward, just mire all of us in the past.

Mr. Obama claims he is for change, but the only change he wants is a change to a socialist police state. He associates with those who advocate a violent overthrow of the country he's trying to become president of, and yet the media is so afraid to report on this because they may be labeled as 'racists'.

Because we whites are so afraid of that label, we're going to let Obama get a pass on his true politics. In order to avoid 'offending' people, we're going to end up with Karl Marx.

All this race talk is being used to obscure the truth about Obama's politics. I admired Martin Luther King, who was shot just before I was born. Martin Luther King was a great man, and those that truly emulate him, I respect. I've read the 'I have a dream' speech dozens upon dozens of times. The entire point of that speech is 'Let's move forward, into the future, and make the world better for all of us in the American Way.' It was not 'Let's push backwards and start racial divisions and impose the worst economic and social environment possible to destroy the American Way.'

Remember, folks...popular elections heralded in such prime examples of Obama's politics as Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Hitler, and Mugabe.

In less than a week, two of my idols have passed away.

First, mentioned in a previous blog post, was William F. Buckley, who helped define what it is to be a conservative.

On March 3rd, I lost my second idol.

E. Gary Gygax helped create the hobby I have enjoyed since 1977, when I first discovered the game of Dungeons and Dragons as a 5th grader. Bored out of my skull at Wednesday night church, my friend at the time, Jim Rapchinski, brought a new book with him. That book ended up changing my life.

Oh, my first adventure wasn't spectacular to say the least. It was 'In Search of the Unknown', the module that came packaged in the blue box. I died in the first encounter, with the character I chose out of the back of pregenerated characters. Not surprisingly, it was a kobold that did my poor little fighter in, but that little kobold hooked me.

Over the years, my love of the game waxed and waned. I always came back to it, however. Fifteen years later, I was writing for Hero Games and the Champions RPG, but my Dungeon Masters Guide, Player's Handbook, and Monster Manual did not collect dust. Twenty years later, I had moved on to writing things for Shadowrun, but I always kept coming back to the various incarnations of Dungeons and Dragons.

As August approaches, and the fourth edition of the game about to debut, the grandfather of gaming has passed away. Those millions of people playing World of Warcraft, Everquest, or another fantasy game either online or off have Gary to thank for the kickstart he gave.

Some of you know what Gary went through over the years. His love of his creation blinded him many times to the things going on around him. Because of that, he ended up losing control of his game's publication. His later attempts at games seemed half-hearted sometimes, but he was gentlemanly enough to not become a vocal critic of what happened to his creation.

Gary was a critic, though, to those who subscribed to his private mailing lists. In politics, he was very libertarian in thinking, yet as pro-defense as anyone after 9/11. On gaming, he mourned what he once called his biggest failure, allowing the skills in Oriental Adventures. With 2nd, and then 3rd editions focusing so much on dice rolling to resolve skills, Gary stated that role playing was suffering.

Gary begrudingly accepted online games for the same reason. Gary was all about taking the role of a character in the game, and not relying on player dice rolls. This seemed contradictory for the man whose works were scattered with so many random tables and generators, but Gary created those tables for the gamemaster, not the player.

A few years ago, when I was trying to get 'Living Erde' off the ground and before the RPGA squashed all non-company games from its line up, I met Gary at GenCon. He was the nicest man, willing to talk your ears off about fantasy genres. But, even then, you could tell his health was failing. Honestly, I am surprised he lasted as long as he did with his health issues cropping up.

Still, at the age of 70, E. Gary Gygax died way before his time. Many different tributes to Gary have made comments about 'failing his saving throw vs death', and he would have laughed at them. That was the thing about Gary, he had gone through his stage of being bitter about losing control of TSR, Inc., but in his later years, he could laugh at himself. He appeared as himself in an episode of Futurama, again making fun of his attraction to random tables.

The world is going to miss Gary. Even though I did not know him very well, I know I already do.

I just logged into Drudge Report to check on what the hot stories were today. I thought it would be yet another Obama vs McCain vs Hillary story, but instead I was confronted with:

RIP, WFB

I did not have to click on the link to know who 'WFB' was.

William F Buckley was one of the main reasons I call myself a conservative. The story of how he built National Review, and energized the emerging conservative movement has inspired me and helped shape my political views over the years.

WFB's views and my views are almost identical down the line.

All I can say is at least he won't be around to watch the near communist Obama taking on the liberal McCain for president.

God speed, Mr. Buckley. We will miss your insights and guidance through the rough waters ahead.

Well, the reason I believe the primary system needs reformed has come true. It looks like the Republicans are going to bend over and support someone whose mental stability I question.

This front-loaded primary system is inherently unfair on both sides of the aisle. Voting should take place in the primaries in reverse population order, so the small states get their say in things, and the larger states like California can be how a candidate coalesces their popularity into a victory.

Instead, come May when I get to vote, I'm only going to have one candidate on the ballot. (maybe 2, if Ron Paul doesn't drop out).

Between McCain and Paul, I'll go Paul. Seriously, despite all my griping in previous columns, at least I know how Paul will act.

I'm actually beginning to hope for Bloomberg to run, which is scary as I normally hate third party candidates.

Well, Huckleberry and Droopy have won their respective caucuses over in Iowa.

Now they get to see whether they can stand the heat about to be thrown their way. I suspect Obama can survive the Clinton attack better than Huckabee will withstand Romney's assault.

Unfortunately, I'm now resolved to the fact we're getting someone worse than George W Bush no matter who ends up on top. Within a year after the election, I expect both sides to come to the same conclusion.

Thank God in 2012, Mike Johanns will be ready to run.

Iowa, here's the appeal:

Vote for Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, Alan Keyes, or Duncan Hunter.

Although I do a lot of Romney defending here, I cannot say I'm sold on him. Keyes and Hunter will be out of the race by the time I get the chance to vote, unfortunately. Iowans, you have that chance.

On the Democrat side, none of the above, or write in Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, or someone else that actually holds the principles of FDR and JFK. None of your current choices do that at all. They hold to the principles of Che Guevarra, Josef Stalin, and Mao Tse Tung. The Republican candidates are bad, but the Democrats have much worse.

Hopefully, this country will still be around in four years after this fiasco and we'll get someone with a clue to run and stop the slide that starts November 2008.

I never thought I would discuss religion so much on this blog. I especially never thought Republicans would be so bone headed as to make it an issue in the presidential campaign.

But, here we go again.

Is Mormonism a cult?

When it was first formed, yes. But...so was Christianity when it first formed. It was a Jewish Cult.

Unlike Islam, though, or today's cults like the cults that have killed themselves due to comets, supposed invasion, or putting firewood up against the door when the government was using incendiary rounds, those that have followed the Mormon faith have allowed themselves to adapt to make their faith less of a cult and more mainstream.

Yet, here we have the bigots going after them yet again in the press and on the campaign.

Meanwhile, someone with a blatantly Islamic background, due to his own name, is not asked one iota of questions about his faith, whether he's a Muslim or not, or other questions that could actually impact the security of the country. Nor is someone who funds a major leftist organization asked about his cult, Scientology. Nope. Those cults we don't talk about. We have to dredge out attacks that are over a hundred years old against the one 'semi-complete' package conservative that has popularity.

Nice job, Huckabee.

The Iowa Caucus is in three days, and being next door in Omaha, I get to hear the lovely commercials put out by the Democrats.

One such commercial is from the NFA (I believe that is the National Farmers Alliance, a radical 'no corporate farm' group). Every one of their ads touts the John Edwards Reform 'Plan', aka no lobbyist money for politicians, especially those representing corporate farms. Boo hoo hoo. They claim this ad is not supporting any one candidate, but once I figure out what the procedure is, that logic is going to get challenged.

Anyways, the main ad running these days talks about how family farmers are being shut down, and the corporations are getting big profits and how that hurts the middle class...

...except they neglect to state the next step in the process, and what happens when John Edward's plan gets implemented:

1) Corporation-ran farms make a profit
2) Shareholders of corporation-run farms are given the profit that is not rolled back into the business
3) The majority shareholders of these corporation farms are pension funds.
4) Thus, if you cut back, or try and eliminate the profit from the corporate-run farms, you directly hurt those pension funds invested in the system.
5) When a non-SSN individual goes to retire, they expect a pension fund to be there for their retirement. But, if it is bankrupt because a profit could not be made by the corporation-run farm and thus no dividends increasing the fund, you have no retirement income and become destitute.

So, do you help a handful of farmers who do not use techniques to increase their yields or are too stubborn to be purchased by a larger conglomerate, where most are allowed to continue to work their field at a set wage with that pension as a result in most cases. Or, do you threaten the pension plans of numerous other companies and LABOR UNIONS in the process of kissing up to the complaining farmers?

This is the PRIME reason John Edwards should never become president.