I lived in a very Right-wing town so most of my contacts were Right-wingers and I was politically active. One day, around 1983, I was asked by an associate, how could I possibly be a Liberal. I responded by saying, Republicans want to change what we are, Liberals want to change how we live.

At the time, the national establishment was decidedly pointing Right, but Nixon had left a bad taste and Reagan, (Ronald or Nancy, I was never sure which one was actually the President), were causing a Leftward shift.

It was many years later when I reevaluated my conclusion that there were indelibly drawn boundaries around the aspirations of the Right and the Left.

Today, I can safely say that it is the Right that wants to change how we live and the Left that wants to change what we are. How can that be?

In order to maintain power, the side in power must somehow cause its adherents, to think like they do. In order to gain power, the underdog must convince people that his side is open and accepting of everyone. once the power changes sides, so do the required tactics and the trends reverse. Acceptance and tolerance are affectations of power. They are not basic philosophies.

There are certain unassailable realities in life on this planet. One of them is that there will always be a struggle for power. That struggle follows a clear path; first, a social bond is formed; then, an elite group emerges; and finally, a single dominant figure seizes control.

Because the power to govern the USA is vested in the population by our Constitution, our path to that final step has been a vacillating pendulum with power passing back and forth in ever increasingly powerful cycles.

What I saw as political philosophies back in the 80s were really manifestations of the struggle for control of the country.

There comes a point at which one side or the other, faced with once more losing control of government, believes its advantage is such that it can successfully make its control permanent. We are at the point where the elite group has formed, and they believe that they can make their move to solidify permanent dominance.

Because of our Constitution, we have that intermediate step where power passes from the people to the elites. Without our Constitution, the elites exert control from inception, princes, dukes, etc. We have an alarm bell, so to speak. We can observe the shift to the elites and that gives us the chance to stop the political corrosion and reestablish the power to govern into the hands of the people.

There are only two questions that are germane at this point; are there sufficient numbers of people willing to do what is necessary to dispossess the elites making their power grab and do we have a leader capable of marshalling the forces necessary to accomplish the task?

Let me comment on that, Woody. I don't think the Right stands for all the wrong things. If you could tell me what it is about the Biden administration that is good for America, I will listen. To date, I haven't heard any positive movements of this current administration. There are many who don't like Trump's personal life, as there have been many who didn't like the personal habits of former Presidents such as Clinton, even Kennedy, but they agree with the place America was during the Trump era. If, by the wrong things, you mean opposition to open borders, unlimited spending, high inflation, high crime, et al, then I think you possibly need to re-assess your criteria. In my book those are definitely worthy goals. You Democrats seem to get hung up on little things. We used to call that majoring in the minors. Do we believe the Trump presidency was a good thing. Definitely! It was a good thing. Who knows where we would have been if Hillary had been elected. We sort of like low unemployment, more jobs, respect of foreign countries, reduced crime etc. I would really like to hear a reasoned defense of the current i***tic policies of the current administration. Can you defend the low approval ratings of Biden/Harris? Can you defend the big increases of inflation? Can you defend the vast increases of i******s coming into our Country? And on and on. The rejection of Trump's policies and the acceptance of Biden's policies is something I will never understand.

I lived in a very Right-wing town so most of my contacts were Right-wingers and I was politically active. One day, around 1983, I was asked by an associate, how could I possibly be a Liberal. I responded by saying, Republicans want to change what we are, Liberals want to change how we live.

At the time, the national establishment was decidedly pointing Right, but Nixon had left a bad taste and Reagan, (Ronald or Nancy, I was never sure which one was actually the President), were causing a Leftward shift.

It was many years later when I reevaluated my conclusion that there were indelibly drawn boundaries around the aspirations of the Right and the Left.

Today, I can safely say that it is the Right that wants to change how we live and the Left that wants to change what we are. How can that be?

In order to maintain power, the side in power must somehow cause its adherents, to think like they do. In order to gain power, the underdog must convince people that his side is open and accepting of everyone. once the power changes sides, so do the required tactics and the trends reverse. Acceptance and tolerance are affectations of power. They are not basic philosophies.

There are certain unassailable realities in life on this planet. One of them is that there will always be a struggle for power. That struggle follows a clear path; first, a social bond is formed; then, an elite group emerges; and finally, a single dominant figure seizes control.

Because the power to govern the USA is vested in the population by our Constitution, our path to that final step has been a vacillating pendulum with power passing back and forth in ever increasingly powerful cycles.

What I saw as political philosophies back in the 80s were really manifestations of the struggle for control of the country.

There comes a point at which one side or the other, faced with once more losing control of government, believes its advantage is such that it can successfully make its control permanent. We are at the point where the elite group has formed, and they believe that they can make their move to solidify permanent dominance.

Because of our Constitution, we have that intermediate step where power passes from the people to the elites. Without our Constitution, the elites exert control from inception, princes, dukes, etc. We have an alarm bell, so to speak. We can observe the shift to the elites and that gives us the chance to stop the political corrosion and reestablish the power to govern into the hands of the people.

There are only two questions that are germane at this point; are there sufficient numbers of people willing to do what is necessary to dispossess the elites making their power grab and do we have a leader capable of marshalling the forces necessary to accomplish the task?

Let me comment on that, Woody. I don't think the Right stands for all the wrong things. If you could tell me what it is about the Biden administration that is good for America, I will listen. To date, I haven't heard any positive movements of this current administration. There are many who don't like Trump's personal life, as there have been many who didn't like the personal habits of former Presidents such as Clinton, even Kennedy, but they agree with the place America was during the Trump era. If, by the wrong things, you mean opposition to open borders, unlimited spending, high inflation, high crime, et al, then I think you possibly need to re-assess your criteria. In my book those are definitely worthy goals. You Democrats seem to get hung up on little things. We used to call that majoring in the minors. Do we believe the Trump presidency was a good thing. Definitely! It was a good thing. Who knows where we would have been if Hillary had been elected. We sort of like low unemployment, more jobs, respect of foreign countries, reduced crime etc. I would really like to hear a reasoned defense of the current i***tic policies of the current administration. Can you defend the low approval ratings of Biden/Harris? Can you defend the big increases of inflation? Can you defend the vast increases of i******s coming into our Country? And on and on. The rejection of Trump's policies and the acceptance of Biden's policies is something I will never understand.