Ron Paul may be the only Presidential candidate in the running who has the slightest clue as to what the Constitution says. Listening to him is like a breath of fresh air. A great example of Dr. Paul’s integrity can be found in his recent interview with Tucker Carlson.

While the rest of the Republican party and the Democrats flounder around who can suck up to the war machine best, Paul exhibits a level of common sense much needed amidst the hype.I wish him luck, so far he has my vote. He understands what this republic stands for and why - which probably means there’s no chance in Hell that he’ll win.

Doug Soderstrom’s latest rant, cuts through the current problems facing the USA with a surgical precision that’s rarely seen these days. It is definitely worth the read!

The ultimate problem as I see it, is not so much that we have serious social issues which need to be worked out, an administration which is going overboard in its power grabs and a judicial system which is coming apart at the seams; it is a problem of populace complacency.

Soderstrom lays out a great deal of the psychology behind America’s inaction, but I feel that he’s missed one very important factor - sheer laziness.

As long as Joe Sixpack is comfortable, sitting in his sofa with the game on the tube, he won’t move to change anything. He’ll instead shrug his shoulders and claim, “There’s nothing I can do about it. I’m insignificant. Why bother?” Only when he is uncomfortable, very, very uncomfortable, will he rise from his seat for something other than a plate of nachos and a beer.

It is going to take a tragic economic collapse to motivate Joe Sixpack. I’m not talking the inability to afford cable TV, or having to put off buying a new car this year - I’m talking about the fear and consternation of not finding food to place at the table and wondering whether or not the house is going to be foreclosed.

The American Idle, as I refer to them, are content in the trinkets they’ve bought and cannot stop to think about what processes are already in motion to reduce their life to that of a serf, or worse. One large factor at work which is finally being recognized, is our porous border with Mexico. The very thought of illegal immigrant amnesty is appalling! I feel for those who are trying to find a better way of life and would likely try the same if I was in the same position, but there is a process to get here legally and it must be followed. We cannot afford to pay for million’s health and welfare, off of the taxes reaped of the legal populace.

The second factor at work here is the dismantling of the American industry. We’re making fewer and fewer products, switching rapidly to a service economy. That works out fine as long as the population can afford to pay others to do what they’d rather not, but when the economy itself is taking a downward turn, who can then afford to pay someone else for the efforts? With tangibles, there is always a need somewhere in the world for the product.

It gets worse. With our current government trillions of dollars in debt and the world oil producers poised to change over to the Euro or other currency for petrol trade - we are going to get that economic collapse sooner than you might think. Right now, all it would take to topple the dollar’s value would be to drop the requirements for oil trade to be held in US dollars. That’s it. It is the artificially constructed weight of the dollar against oil in an agreed world court, which gives the dollar value. Like Monopoly money, the only reason it has value is that the players agree that it does. We long ago abandoned the notion that our economy was based on anything truly tangible, like gold. Take away the dollar as petrol currency and the world doesn’t think much of it anymore.

China is already moving to dump the dollar out of their reserves and Japan is following suit. They know what the American Idle ignores - that the US dollar is going to be dumped by the world’s oil industry and anyone holding it will be caught for pennies on the note. Our own government knows this dynamic is at stake, which is our real purpose in our Middle East wars. It’s either a hostile takeover (a very hostile takeover) of the oil industry, or a complete collapse of the American economy.

These are desperate times and our desperate government will take any steps it can to remain in power. They cannot do so when the American Idle are idle no more. This is why the Democrats haven’t made any real move to stop our Iraq efforts, or dissuade the Bush interest in taking on Iran. Politicians may be stupid at times, but they are also power hungry and willing to sell their souls to keep that power. They know that the only way to keep our artificial economy afloat, is to keep the US dollar as the only recognized oil currency, no matter how much blood it takes to lubricate that process.