Rae said, in a comment on my last post, that Americans have gotten too complacent even to bother to vote and we're getting what we deserve. I'd agree with that except other people -- the Iraqis, for example -- are getting it too, and it's not clear that they deserve it. And an awful lot of people DID bother to vote in 2000, and it's also not clear we even got what we voted for.

My nephew and mouthpiece, Dan, says he thinks the forces of good are winning. I don't see it. I don't think history tends toward the good and I think greed is the world's most powerful motive, much more powerful than compassion. But I give money and I vote and I'll be in the streets at the Republican convention because even if the forces of good aren't winning they SHOULD win; and because I may be wrong. I once read a story by Hannah Green where a character said he'd never met the master but he knew he must exist because the servant was busy in the house. As long as a peaceful, compassionate future has servants like Dan and his buddies, I'll support them. But I don't expect to ever see the master.