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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

> "Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present
> controls the past." (_1984_ by George Orwell)

I don't remember the context of that statement. Taken at face value, it 
says that the past and the future are controlled by those currently in 
power. I don't find that compelling. History books are rarely rewritten 
with each power term. The future is only partially predictable from the 
present. As the actions of the current US president have shown, we can no 
longer depend on historical actions by a major political party to predict 
the immediate or near future actions by that party.