From: riggs@descartes.tec.army.mil (Bill Riggs)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,misc.headlines
Subject: Re: PEROT OFFERS TO BANKROLL COALITION
Date: 28 Jul 92 19:21:34 GMT
Followup-To: talk.politics.misc
Distribution: usa
Organization: LNK Corporation, Riverdale, MD

In article <1992Jul24.224720.2241@access.digex.com> breinhar@access.digex.com (Robert B. Reinhardt) writes:
>Phil, normally I wouldn't follow up to followups of my own post, but you
>tried so hard to pick it apart that I just can't resist.

>
>
>It may well be a fraud coming from Perot.  But, there is this gift he's
>given us of a whole bunch o'people all over the country that are/were
>just sitting on the fence waiting for some way to get involved.  These
>people should stay together, even without him and do something good
>for this country.
>
>But, you're right, how could just a bunch of unorganized, normal
>ordinary people from all over the US actually work together to
>effect meaningful change here, without a crook leading us and
>telling us what to do we can't think on our own right?
>
>Throughout my argument I speak of the "Perot Coalition" and the 
>activities of the current organization, because that is the basis
>for all of this.  That doesn't mean I support him, in fact I too
>have many doubts about his intentions and the way he would handle
>the power...but that doesn't stop me from getting excited over the
>possibility of finally being able to do something to spark some
>changes in this country. 
>
>If we have to rename it in context of this discussion, lets call it
>something else, but let's get on with it before the opportunity
>slips away.  If we keep crying about what might go wrong, we'll
>never do anything.  We can't keep complaining about what the
>"politicians" are doing to this country if we don't try to do
>something about it.

	There are some folks you miss more when they're gone. 
I'm afraid Ross Perot is like that. 

	Two things have happened since his departure from the
campaign:

	1. The media has turned its guns full force against
	George Bush. This is really their last chance to 
	turn this election into a stampede of mass hysteria,
	which is the only form of politics that sells time
	slots on TV, and keeps our eyes glued to the 
	Washington Post. Since the liberals really don't
	have a nice juicy scandal to keep the troops whipped
	into shape, there is a lot of good, old fashioned
	self-serving Democrat namecalling going on this
	year. The big deal now is that the VP ought to
	be dumped because he can't detect the spelling 
	errors on his cue cards. Big Yawn...

	2. Conservative Democrats and neolibertarian Bush
	bashers (this is a new category pretty much confined
	to George Will and Kevin Phillips, consisting of
	individuals who have the party affiliation of
	neoconservatives and the snotty speaking style
	of libertarians) have magically discovered the
	virtue of Perot's budget proposals. Now, I do not
	know how anyone can really seriously embrace a 
	50 cent gasoline tax, but there you have it. To
	me, this looks like a massive case of sour grapes
	(David Broder to George Will, "Gosh, George, if
	America had just elected Ross Perot dictator, err,
	I mean, President, we could have saved the country's
	economic future, etc. etc.")

	This has been a very long and often disheartening 
	electoral campaign. The choice now seems to be between
	repeating the mistakes of the past (Vote Demcratic)
	and drawing out a blank check on the future (Vote 
	Republican). But we deserve this kind of choice if
	significant segments of the populace continue to
	engage in self-delusion. The Democratic National
	Convention only served to reinforce my conviction
	that at least one half of the political system cares
	not one whit about my individual welfare, no matter how
	much gas they pass about reaching out to the middle class,
	or how many small towns their carefully selected southern
	white male candidates visit. 


	Ross Perot's mistake, in the final analysis, was that he, too,
thought that elections were still to be won by pandering to the voters,
especially the ones that resembled his own corner of American society.
But he found out the hard way how fast they turn on you, and that even
the simplest, most plain-spoken phrases (i.e. "You people") get a 
bad review when they're trying like mad to tear you down. Mr. Perot
was wise to get out when he did. He would have been even wiser not to
have run at all.

	Bill R.


	"My opinions do not represent those of my employer or any
government agency."
-- 
Bill R.
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