If and when Bush and the Neocons attack Iran before the year ends, oil will skyrocket out of control and this economy will tank like it never ever has before. I just hope saner minds in the Republican party prevail, the Democrats bowed under pressure from AIPAC to disallow congress to vote prior to an Iran attack. Its all in the Neocons hands and they dont care about America, thats for sure.

First of all, if you read the 17 odd comments before this one, not a single one addresses any issue you listed in your three bullet points!!! A remarkable performance, you were specifically asking for input. I think it points to the problems Ruffini et all will encounter.

Consider my outlooks center left, so what I say will be colored by that political persuasion. Bluntly, I believe that in a complex world government has to have a seat at the table. Ain’t nobody else with clout that is going to speak for the people.

That said, if the conservatives want a seat at the table, they are going to have to set ideology aside, and listen to the people they wish to govern. A perusal of your bullet points indicates you have done that. The response by your 17 other correspondents indicate they have not done that…

First bullet point: Most polls indicate 60 to 65% of the populous want us out of Iraq. There is a growing awareness of the cost and burden of maintaining multiple troops and foreign bases (over 800) overseas. You cannot continue the current policy, the bank is broken; the people know it…

Second bullet point: The populous expects the government to solve social issues. Who is going to solve poverty, health care for poor children, adequate housing, etc? Jews, Christians, Muslims, and assorted other religions have tried to “improve public morality” and failed miserably. A conservative government is going to succeed where over centuries religion has failed? Get out of the bedroom is you want a majority of votes.

Third Bullet point: The populous has spoken on Social Security, embrace a corrective plan that does not include benefit cuts and you will draw voters. The populous views Health Care a major problem, you have to come up with a plan. McCain’s more of the same ain’t going to cut it…

Gasp, that is it… Was there not a movie titled “Sleeping with the Enemy”?

Because for all of its faults, the Administrative Law setup that we have in this country is pretty damned good.

Thats a good point. Actually you can make a very strong argument for our government. Stable for over 200 years. Peaceful transition of power.

It is certain we have had our share of bad government (see Bush administration for an example). But overall, our system has worked well. I am concerned about the assault on civil liberties that has taken place in the 21st century , as well as soaring salaries and benefit for government employees (250k a year for a fire captain in bankrupt Vallejo, CA)

Do you know what the most efficient, best working government in the history of mankind was? Nazi Germany.

Where is any evidence to support this? What does "best working" mean?

Bit... Nazi Germany was a looter government well before Poland. The were looting their own citizens, the Jewish ones at least.

Germany certainly fell to that rule, eventually

Eventually? Nazi Germany only existed for what, 12 years? They were corrupt thugs pretty much from day one. It is not something that evolved over time.

Another item that would lead me to question the quality of government in Nazi Germany was the habit of promoting incompetents who's main job qualification was blind loyalty. We have seen how well thats worked here in the last eight years.

The Nazis were brutal and unchecked by law or morality. That allowed them to accomplish certain goals rapidly and without much in the way of opposition. But to argue that they had "the most efficient, best working government" in history is nonsense.

They were very good at a small range of things that mostly involved violence and degradation on a massive scale. They were able to harness the considerable talents and energy of the German people. Thats about it...

I do agree with the thought that the only thing holding the Dem netroots together is a hatred of Bush. Exit question: what happens if Obama wins in November? With a Dem controlled House, Senate, and White House who will they blame when things go wrong? Whatever will they spend their time complaining about? Who will they smear?

Wow. That's a toughie. Do you mean in terms of general efficiency, or in terms of policy?

Heh... You're starting to get my point, I think. Sorry for dumping that in your lap, but you were handy.

Point I'm making...and your response made it for me, as I expected... is that question needs be asked along with the question of what constitutes good policy and what constitutes governmental efficiency. In both cases, measurements would need to be set. I'm willing to bet we can discuss those for years, among just the regulars of this blog, and never resolve a one of them. Such a discussion, you see, would force us to deal with the fundimenatal issue of individual rights vs the 'greater good'. You know what a mess we'll end up with there, even without addressing the underlying culture as I've attempted to occasionally.

I must admit some curiosity, though; What government, either historical or current, would you consder to be the best working government?

Wow. That's a toughie. Do you mean in terms of general efficiency, or in terms of policy? Because for all of its faults, the Administrative Law setup that we have in this country is pretty damned good. It's relatively corruption free and generally (but not always) user friendly. But that said, it does enforce a lot of policies that I don't like. Much like the French health care system, which is rather well run and I can admit that despite the fact that I've no desire to have a government health care system.

I've also always liked the ancient Icelandic system, but it's not very scalable.

Dang bro it's good to see you finally see the light

Whoosh!

The liberals' desire to make everyone gay, UN-loving, Spanish speaking, welfare queens.

Dang bro it's good to see you finally see the light and that or that your also a fan of the Mission Earth series, got to love that L. Ron Hubbard!

Also, who decided that the Netroots was united on any issue? We didn't have to be united to form a productive organization, you just have to be motivated.

If the right keeps trying to build a "Rightroots" by creating a platform based on a unified opinion, they'll keep wasting their time and money. People first, platform second, unity never.

And don't governments all eventually end up working to minatin their own existance and even comfort as opposed to serving their original purpose? Germany certainly fell to that rule, eventually.

I must admit some curiosity, though; What government, either historical or current, would you consder to be the best working government?

Do you know what the most efficient, best working government in the history of mankind was? Nazi Germany.

No it wasn't. Nazi Germany had rampant corruption, and its economy pretty weak. It was only the influx of resources from conquest that enabled it to keep going as long as it did.

Not to mention the fact that different parts of its government were such rivals that they would injure and kill members of opposing factions. Additionally, it's totalitarian structure drove out its best and brightest minds in favor of those with more conformist leanings. Germany's faltering political structure was apparent even prior to the invasion of Poland.

It’s not at all apparent to me what it is that will unite the “Rightroots” (or whatever term we coin).

This will be easy:

The liberals' desire to make everyone gay, UN-loving, Spanish speaking, welfare queens.

If the axis of Hussein-Pelosi-Frank-Kennedy is in charge, there will be plenty to keep us busy.