On 19 Oct 2006 21:02:54 -0700, "Sev" wrote:


wrote:
Why dont we just nuke the entire Middle East.

My mouse only has 3 buttons on it- which one does that?

Do we ever reflect on why we Americans are prone to this kind of
intemperate thinking? We are an impatient lot, but how many repair
jobs are helped by an outbreak of violent temper? I expect most of us
have tried it at least once, rarely with helpful results- just that one
or two times that make us, like gamblers, occasionally consider it.


Regarding Carter and the hostages, I've always considered his approach
basically a success, by this simple measu THEY ALL CAME HOME ALIVE
a minor point for some people, I realize. And there was some
evidence, which I found credible, that Reagan's people deliberately had
release delayed through secret dealings.

You got that right! It's well documented. Coordinated with the
Iranians via Paris.

Wonder how different the lives of the middle and lower classes would
have been had Carter been re-elected. For one thing, the deliberate
destruction of the American labor movement might not have begun (you
DO remember Reagan firing the air controllers?) and your stereotype
honest working union member might have continued to earn a respectable
living to support a family and a middle-class way of life...

And please don't bother coming on with union corruption, the
Teamsters-Mafia-Nixon axis, etc. Union bosses can be as corrupt
(well, almost) as Members of Congress.

Before reciting THAT lesson, go back and study the history of the
labor movement in the U.S. It makes horrific reading.

But ah, those 21% interest rates under Carter, if you had a few
bux to invest...