permaculture

[Mark <mpludwig@facstaff.wisc.edu>]

At 07:53 PM 9/19/02 -0700, you wrote:
> Out here in California, the democratic incumbent is a money-grubbing 
> incompetent; the republican challenger is a lying crook.

I see this too.  Our DP is being taken over by extremists and hacks too.  I 
raised some serious hell at the convention this year and will continue to 
do so.  I also look at some of the greats in the DP, Russ Fiengold, Tammy 
Baldwin, Dennis Kusinich etc.  It's a big tent and we have some jerks in 
it, but also some real statesmyn.  I worry that the loss of our idealistic 
and frankly young faction to the greens will lead the party further to the 
right and loose us close elections.  These losses really hurt when we get a 
right wing nut case like GW Bush and all the attendant super hawks.  As for 
LL's question, I'm a libertarian in my general outlook but find the LP to 
be wacko on most economic issues, and again they suffer from not having to 
govern.  I'm trying to get the DP to shift in a more libertarian direction, 
plus I like to actually win elections.  BTW - I'm a pretty hard green too, 
the distortion of "property rights" into a license to pollute is simply 
wrong.  We at the DFC believe that no one has the right to befowl the air 
or water and believe the current system of permits to pollute wrong.  Of 
course how to implement such ideology keeps us chatting....
M


Mark P. Ludwig
Poultry Research Lab
University of Wisconsin -Madison
608-262-1730 WK
608-846-7125 HM