1. Of late, decent Havanas available to discerning people anywhere in the free world.
2. Almost agree, but the brand of democratic BS is not as economically or socially damaging as the Bush disaster. The antiquated two-party system, and
people arguing all day long about Democrats vs Republicans when they fundamentally represent the same interests, outlived its usefulness to the US a
long time ago.
We could argue the discerning nature of people who suck on a burning phallic substitute for recreation, but I'm not a psychologist so i'll leave
that alone. As for the party system, I think we've found some common ground. It's definately true that the current parties are a vestige of the past
political climate, and they remain only as a divisive element in a society that probably disagrees less on individual issues than many believe. Its
the banding of issues into political platforms, only two of which ever gather enough financial support to be viable, which makes political parties a
major hinderance and not much of an assett any longer. (the original political parties were little more than opposing sides on single issues that were
absolutely critical to the path our nation would take).
Never the less, partisan politics is a reality, and it's unlikely to disappear too soon. It will take a major shakeup to change these parties, and
even then I suspect that a similar system will be derived from them. The corruption won't disappear. It will just have to find a new host. Whatever
we try next is going to have corruption, power struggles, and large quantities of immature behavior, just like our current system. The socio-economic
balance of power could change and a new face of politics would evolve, but the basic elements that make our politics so screwed up would remain.
At the risk of coming across as an evil prick, I buy into Clausewitz' theory of war, and as a result I generally see conflict as the natural state of
all things, and I'm willing to accept that and make winning my primary concern. I dont believe the political conflict can end. I'd be happy just to
have my side winning, or at least a side that doesn't oppose me winning. Of course I dont know if there is any such side, because everyone's agenda
is unclear.