You are giving them far too much credit, I think, Tom. There is no
requirement to have a high school diploma to run for office in this
country. And we don't just sit by. It's worse---we elect some of these
fools and morons. To follow along Dennis' thoughts about decline of "the
public good," I personally deplore the fact that "high public office" has
become such a disreputable occupation. Maybe it always was, but at least
there were double standards of decency to uphold--now we don't even bother
much with the lip service. Public office is really about service, not
self-aggrandizement, but an awful lot of them missed the memo on that one.

Best, John



On Wed, Jul 3, 2013 at 1:13 PM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> I actually think it's worse -- I think they know the Constitution all too
> well, and know exactly how to abuse it for short-cuts, personal gains and
> to enrich their benefactors. Again, what astounds me is that so many of us
> just sit by and let it happen. A whole other discussion is, in the modern
> media age, would any "normal" (by any definition) or indeed SANE man or
> woman run for high public office. What lure remains except personal
> enrichment and ego-fulfillment.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Haley" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 03, 2013 1:01 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Radio
>
>
>
> Re civics classes and the Constitution, remember that we have people who
>> run for president and vice-president who have obviously never read the
>> Constitution, and I think quite a few people serving in the Congress as
>> well. Some of these people would not even be equipped to understand all
>> the words.
>>
>> Best,
>> John Haley
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jul 3, 2013 at 12:37 PM, Roderic G Stephens
>> <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>>
>> As far as classical music via excellent streaming .mp3, I get KUSC (the
>>> Los Angeles USC station), KDFC (the San Francisco USC supported station),
>>> KPFR (Chico State University) and my local favorite (which I subscribe
>>> to)
>>> Jefferson Public Radio AKA KSOR out of Southern Oregon University. So,
>>> if
>>> you look for it, there a plenty of outlets that can still fulfill your
>>> musicial tastes.
>>>
>>>
>>> ______________________________**__
>>> From: Donald Clarke <[log in to unmask]>
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Sent: Wednesday, July 3, 2013 6:26 AM
>>> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Radio
>>>
>>>
>>> The government handed broadcasting on a plate to commercial interests
>>> right after WWI, and that's why it's mostly been a vast wasteland. There
>>> aren't any record stores anywhere any more, but travelling in Europe in
>>> the
>>> 1980s I heard Billie Holiday from the ceiling in a French hypermarket (as
>>> opposed to the noisy trash in your nearest shopping mall), and in every
>>> hilltop town in Tuscany there was a mom-and-pop record shop that had the
>>> popcrock, both Italian and English-language, but also decent selections
>>> of
>>> jazz and classical, because kids in those countries grow up hearing it on
>>> their national radio stations, whereas most people in the USA never hear
>>> any of either.
>>>
>>> And speaking of 'national', the biggest American problem may be that we
>>> are not a nation at all, but a loose union of 50 squabbling little
>>> countries, so that the corporations can walk all over us.
>>>
>>> Donald Clarke
>>>
>>>
>>
>>