Submitted by Don Robertson, Dec 28, 2006 23:38

Okay, I'm politically jaded, like everyone else, I suspect, BUT, who writes John Edwards' material, or is it just old Jimmie Carter speeches brushed up into today's jargon?

The problem we have, what is perceived as there being so little difference between Republicans and Democrats, is that each party's candidates are reactions to the other party's candidates. We don't get any real change, just more of the opposite of the same, again. It's almost predictable, that if Edwards were to be elected, his opponent's speeches in 2012 will read like Reagan speeches.

2012! 2012! This has got to stop.

Ours is a moral-socialist nation, as we permit our elected and popular leaders to set the moral goals and tenor of the nation. That is what democracy in our Republic has evolved into. It is why all these contests look like beauty pageants.

It would not be so bad, if anyone really had any idea what morality is, but none of these candidates has a clue. George Bush certainly hasn't a clue about morality, or he would have gone into hiding after Abu Ghraib, and a half dozen other incidents during his dumbfounding reign.

But on the other hand, to hear John Edwards extolling the vitiues of taking care of the poor, come on! This is just getting too corny.

There is no such thing as kinder, gentler government. So let's talk about morality in the hope at least one of the many candidates is listening. If they are, we can at least get to hear a different message, even if we still may get no better results.

The moral imperative of life is to live a life that detracts not at all from the lives available to those who will follow us into this world.

What this means is it is immoral to detract from the lives those who will follow us in the future will be able to live. The statement calls into question our common notion of progress, prosperity and a good economy.

What good are these things, if they come at a cost to the future? That's right. We're in yesterday's future!

That is why we're in the predicament we're in today, because no one thinks about the future, they only think about today. It is in fact immoral even to gamble the possibilities for the future for some gain today. It is immoral to even detract in some small way from the potential of the future, because these small detractions tend to be cumulative.

I hope you are getting the idea of what I'm trying to convey here.

You are lucky to be alive today, because right now as the nation's morality quotient works its wonders through the political process, protecting our freedoms, and boosting our economies, we are all trashing the future, and this has to stop.

So, Mr. Edwards, put down the Bible, all the I'm more compassionate than thou, and come clean with us.

Are you for trashing the future for today's political gain like every other American politician who has come along, or are you ready to grapple with the tough issues this country faces?

Don Robertson, The American Philosopher
Limestone, Maine

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