Once on the throne there is little distinction between any of them.

Indeed! Today the world is full of "Puppet's" Do I hear the drums of July 14, 1789

Our other handicap is the brown bag over our heads. Go Barak and Hilary - nothing could be as worse as our current government who gave tax cuts to the rich and allowed the oil crisis and the invasion of Iraq make his buddies millions, sorry, billions - this President will go down in infamy.

The CIA - a lot of fascist clap trap - what they have done...

I do not believe in Republican Party but I have many Republican friends. I do not believe in religion but have many religious friends.

The state will always exist while man dominates this planet, from the time we used a stick to overpower our neighbor to the fear factor we now exploit. Self-preservation is definitely the clarion call of governments and municipalities – they send out unfunded mandates and limit everyone accept themselves to a three percent increase. The state is the most inefficient organization, and what is criminal is that they are without responsibility for their actions. Most private organization will request a feasibility study when they are about to plow millions into a project – no such luck with the state, they just shoot from the hip and usually miss their target. The invasion of Iraq for instance will cost America many lives and many more needing life-time medical treatments. We went into this invasion with lies and deceit “WMD” and “Democracy” this was a criminal act of the highest magnitude – in Basra, women are being killed (some in front of their kids) because they didn’t where a head scarf or the color of the scarf was offensive – last year alone approximately 150 women were killed in Basra and many had signs of torture. The US is now paying certain tribes which before were killing our boys and girls – you tell me where the democracy is in Iraq, the democracy they were promised. There was NO TERRORISM in Iraq before the US invasion. This is an example (though horrific and incredibly expensive) of the state committing a crime without any accountability.

The statement deserves five regardless who said it. We can find wrong-doings in all politicians and its pointless casting the first stone. Big corporations and their wealth are dominating our political process, communications, and our daily lives. Unless we have total campaign reform, forbid lobbyists to donate one penny, allow all political parties to present their platform only two months before the general election, and free of charge via all forms of media; write into all media contracts the availability of free advertising space for all political candidates based the number of candidates representing their party – perhaps we should start by taking away the civil rights of the majority and let them experience what this country is truly all about. Yes, we have a long way to go especially when we allow the civil rights of any minority group to be on the ballet. Yes, the law of the majority works fine when you are in the majority. Get over it and grow up America.

What absolute codswallop, under the conservative neocons we are the laughing stock of civilized nations (and uncivilized nations). In their tenure, they have created more havoc than a bull in a china shop. A political religion of the nation, WOW! what a concept. The Constitution was written by Liberals; perhaps this is the reason why so many of us don't live by its message -- please enlighten us with the Confederate manifesto. Right on Mike.

Look, my friends are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Jainism, Atheist, Trotskyite, and Agnostic, and we all get along fine without the need to preach to each other – you are who you are without the trappings of so called morals based on your individual beliefs. A good person can be from all of the above as much as a bad person. If we are to survive as humans in this Universe we must begin to respect each and their beliefs. In all the writings of different religions there is one common denominator which run through their respective scriptures – in the final days you will not be judged on what you believe but what you did – its really very simple; the rest is cloak and daggers – perhaps more daggers than cloaks. As Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to his farther “ The scriptures assure me that at the last day we shall not be examined on what we thought but what we did."

Perfect!

Unless there is change to our destructive nature the Enemy is us

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow - Aesop - all forms are absolute as is is. All above shows a real love for enlightenment - but remember as Chuang Tzu said: "Words exist because of meaning. Once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words." He went on to say: "Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I may talk with him."

Editor, you seem stuck on Morality, I like that – here’s my penny's worth. Morality is absolute, it exists even in the forest; it exists in our hearts and minds. What man does with morality is the same as what he does when he has a gun - he can use it to protect his family or use it to take from another. Morality is compassion, it is caring for others, it’s a standard of conduct and behavior that is thoughtful of the needs of others; it is to enjoy life and be happy and allow that same happiness to be shared by all. IT HAS NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO WITH RELIGION. Terry and Archer good replies.

A good reply logan

Tell me, a person who is not free, say a prisoner, (whether wrongly or rightly incarcerated) is incapable of morality. Who has the right to determine morality? Is it the church, the government, the laws? I say none; Morality is in the heart and exists with no attachment either to freedom or liberty. It has no attachment to religious doctrines or the law - as most have reiterated on this and other quotes, morality does not exist where there is thought of reward or forgiveness. A moral code of behavior cannot be defined by government or religion, a moral code of behavior are values you yourself have determined. If you are kind and considerate towards others with regard to their well-being then isn’t this morality enough – what did we call this kindness and consideration towards our fellow man before the dawn of Gods. Would there be any right or wrong unless God existed? The morality of the church is steeped in stories of pain and suffering and the burnings of disbelievers – a God that would cast you into a furnace of everlasting fire where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth for all eternity is not a very compassionate God and I think I may be persuaded towards Buddhism – mud under the lotus leaf may be less painful. Like many freethinkers, such as Nietzsche and Hume, religion has probably done more harm than good when it comes to morality.

This quote on morality deserves three stars as morality is both evil and good and has little to do with Freedom - it is used to suppress and to liberate.

Excellent Archer

Archer, good, your on a roll... Its funny too, whenever a car cuts infront of me there's usually a fish on the boot/trunk

Well said Archer

Another brilliant statement - Waffler should read Russell with regard to Authority. As for Lenin, well, thats for another day.

Brilliant! without a being the practice of morality is impossible. It can't be that foolish if we are being saved, and from what. Why bring God into this statement - the word Angels is used only to get the point across to the believers. What absolute rubbish - bring a child into the world void of all human contact and tell me the child will grown up knowing morality. Sad we are still living in the dark ages.

Benjamin, welcome to the club. What are we stupid or something - Jesus didn't write a thing Man did and many years later and then changed and changed and changed - where do we come from saying these are Jesus Morals. This is the endemic problem we face today with regard to our mental evolution. While we continue to believe in this fairy tale as sacrosanct we will not progress as a human race - in actual fact, it will be our demise.

Most definitely; yes, those dirty rotten scoundrels

It's a great quote but it's not how it should be. An interesting observation is this; I have never heard a billionaire whistle while he works but I have road sweepers - perhaps I meet more road sweepers than billionaires. All I know is that the Gates foundation has given Rotary nearly a $billion to help Rotary eradicate Polio from around the world, Buffet also. In Rotary we have a mantra and it's for all peoples including legislators and office-holders: Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and better FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Today the government's wheedling is the Patriot Act