the great thing about this left/right blither is that it can go on forever, because it's fed by manufactured opinion programs that are designed to oppose. i rarely feel like i get any value out of this discussion cause its all people expressing unwavering opinion, occasionally bolstered by facts but never analysis that allows for interpretation. i think there must be good reasons why people align strongly with political programs, left or right. but of course they're all a little right, and all a little wrong. otherwise everyone would agree. for example, i think a common conservative refrain is that government should spend less. this practically defines the 'tax-and-spend liberal' characterization that perhaps is central to a lot of the understandably wallet-driven concerns of conservative ideology. i've heard that in fact the bush admin has been increasing spending, even if you factor out the proactive military actions. i saw this link to a spreadsheet that backs that up, contradicting bush claims to the contrary (i'm referencing a slate analysis on bush's meet the press statements).http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2005/sheets/hist08z8.xlsi'm sure this is open to interpretation so i'd be interested in hearing some thoughts.i'll additionally pose a question to the conservative (although i think you might consider re-dubbing yourselves 'aggressives') contingent that seems to enjoy populating the blowback bbs -- is there anything about our country's government you wish to change, or is it quite perfect as is? maybe this could spark some issue-driven debate beyond name-calling. you pigs. ;)