As for the Monica scandal; well, it was a scandal.  In the business world, if an officer of a company used his influence to have sex with a teen-aged intern, he would automatically have been fired.  Clinton not only did that, but then lied to a grand jury about the relationship in a second sexual harassment hearing..one he settled out of court.  And, it could be argued that because of the scandal, he became more aggressive internationally during the hearings as a smoke screen.  He didn't just look "silly", he looked corrupt.

I'm sure I am not the only working musician out there who's tuned in to Art Bell on the way home from gigs.  I think it is entertaining in the same way as reading the front pages of the tabloids while waiting in line at the grocery store, but 99% of all the bullsh!t on his show was, and is, bullsh!t.  Still, he, or the new guy, George Noory, have built a huge audience of listeners ready to walk to the alter of conspiracies, so lots of money can be made.  And it is not just the show, but the products.  Do you remember Art pumping that company that would sell you a years supply of food and water in 1999 in anticipation for the end of the earth created by Y2K?  A fortune was made, than in January of 2000, you never heard another word about the issue.

To me, the real US conspiracy is the make-belief two-party system that we have in place.  Until that changes, the issues you addressed in your final paragraph will never change.

What do you think about Bob Barr?  And have you read Ron Paul's latest book "Revolution: A Manifesto"?

I like Ron Paul more than Barr, but I think he is wrong about Iraq.  It makes less sense to me to argue more about why we are there, rather than what to do next at the point. Although the "why we are there now" argument from him could keep us out of other countries.  Where many of the Libs disagree with me is on the what to do now part of Iraq.  I don't think we can just pull out.  There would be a major civil war, genocide, and eventually, Iran would move in, and have a larger grip on the oil supply.  It sucks that we are there, but leaving early would suck much more in the long run.  Oh, and I have not gotten around to buying his book.

Anyway, neither candidate has much of a political career in store.  I vote all over the map, but this year, I'm leaning towards McCain.  I don't like Obama or his purposefully vague stand on the issues, and inability to man-up rather than throw friends under the bus.  I think Biden, as much as he might be fun to get drunk with, is a blow-hard, and to say the least, racially insensitive.  Unlike Obama, at least McCain is somewhat bipartisan.  However, I may change my mind if he picks Mr. Magic Underwear as his running mate, and vote Barr out of protest.