From: Bill Stewart <stewarts@ix.netcom.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 1996 17:54:38 +0800
To: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject: Re: U.S. presidential debate: URLs, V-Chip, huge databases
Message-ID: <199610070730.AAA19303@dfw-ix12.ix.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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>Except for one sentence that will go down in Net.history -- Bob Dole
>ended the 90-minute session with what he framed as an appeal to
>younger voters: "If you really want to get involved, tap into my home
>page at www.dolekemp96.org. Thank you."

It's an amazing web site.  The first thing that it wants you to do
is fill out a 
        Custom Design Form
        Information on the following form will allow us to customize 
        your personal Dole for President web site. 

Imagine - a web site for a candidate so spineless he wants to tell you what
_you_ believe in, not what he believes in!  Dole is one of the few
Republicans out there who make Clinton look like he's got principles.
Bush would always sneer while he was lying to the public, but at least
the man _was_ up to something.  Something evil, but _something_.
And when Nixon lied to you, it was ok to laugh.  (Well, in most circles.
And even his die-hard supporters generally understood....)


>Ain't it hip to be a netizen?
>   .... Clinton ... V-Chip ... Dole ... nationalized ID card database


>Dole called the use of illegal drugs a heinous crime, accusing Clinton
>of being a "liberal." 
Bwah-hah-hah!  <insert much cynical laughter here>
Liberal.  Yeah, right.  I've known liberals, and he's not one.
Even the hacked Dole/Kemp web page had the right-wing arrow pointing
to the ClintonGore page, and the left-wing arrow pointing to the
"You can't go back again" page :-)


>Then, responding to a get-tough-on-guns
>challenge from his opponent, Dole suggested a database system that
>would check your identity and background before allowing you to buy a
>gun: "You put your card in there and if it says 'tilt' you get
>nothing. No guns. Zippo."

Card?  What card?  Thank you very much!

>These are hardly the words of someone who gives a rat's ass about privacy. 

Declan McCullagh, you have been fined two credits for violation
of the verbal morality law.

>What's worse, elephantine government databases or V-chip
>style censorship?  All I know is that neither of 'em has my vote.

Isn't it nice to have options!  If I weren't voting Libertarian,
there's Perot and Ralph Nader (both of whom are _interesting_ statists),
or Pat Paulsen (I don't care that he lost the primary), or
Barry Goldwater (:-).

Or there's Hugh Romney (aka Wavy Gravy, who runs the Nobody for President
campaign), or Frank Zappa (who'd make a better president, dead, than
most of the major candidates would alive.)

Or you can take a decentralist approach - vote for someone you trust.
Yourself.  Your spouse.  One of your neighbors.  Your mom.  
Just spell their name right.



(I've met Harry Browne, but he's always been in public-figure mode.
I guess he'll do.  Jo Jorgensen, the VP candidate, is actually
a real person, as is Nancy Lord, previous VP candidate.)

#			Thanks;  Bill
# Bill Stewart, +1-415-442-2215 stewarts@ix.netcom.com
# You can get PGP outside the US at ftp.ox.ac.uk
  Imagine if three million people voted for somebody they _knew_,
  and the politicians had to count them all.