you realize that almost everyone's business on this board is transacted, managed and operated on the phone lines, yes?

I'm referring to the law passed in 1968.

You should have read all the complaining on GFY back then ;-)

yes, those punchcards were a bitch to deal with. 30,000 punchcards just to post one troll.

i see your point, but i do wish more americans weren't so guided by 'fear' that is pumped into their brains through every orifice 24/7 and realize that the united states stands for freedom - not oppression. we haven't always been at war with Oceana.

You are being more than usually obtuse today. You provided the definition of the political spectrum: "The extreme left-wing are socialists and communists. The extreme right-wing are fascists and totalitarians." And you stated that universal healthcare belonged to the extreme left: "I would just bet you view the points-of-view of the extreme left as "normal". Like "Universal health care", for example."

I seriously doubt that many Americans who favor universal healthcare would appreciate being branded as socialists or communists and I didn't appreciate you jumping to conclusions about my overall political point of view based on a guess (or a memory of previous posts here) about one specific issue.

None of which in any case was remotely relevant to my original observation that a dumbed-down electorate is most easily sold on simple concepts. As Herman Goering said during a conversation while imprisoned at Nuremberg: "...it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."