Camp Fish and other stuff

Feeling good again today...Lenore, James, and I just got back from a round of Christmas shopping at the Bemidji Woolen Mills (which was shoulder to shoulder with semi-frantic shoppers). Yesterday's recollections about Camp Fish got me thinking more seriously about trying to put together some sort of re-union so to encourage some initial communication I set up an interactive page on dannswiki. I encourage any Camp Fish folks that happen to read this to post personal updates and reactions to the reunion idea -- also pass along the URL to other former staffers. Only registered users will be able to read and post to the Camp Fish page so you will need to give yourself a username and password.

Speaking of nostalgia, I know I must be feeling much better since I am starting to regain my zeal for things political. I remain more than a bit puzzled by Al Gore's endorsement of Howard Dean. It probably assures Dean's nomination but I worry that some of Dean's most interesting New Left ideas will be diluted by the outmoded Old Left ideology of the Democratic establishment. While I will admit that the Old Left's progressive agenda and free spending social programs helped this country move away from racism and systemic economic injustice, its methods are no longer approriate and Dean's style of electronic grass roots democracy seems to be the wave of the future. Time will tell I guess. On the right side of the political fence, things are even more bizarre. Bush seems to be the hole in a doughnut of neo-conservative ideologues bent on enriching themselves at the expense of the country. Unlike the old style (paleo-?)conservatives that exemplify the careful restraint implied by the best sense of the label conservative, these folks are positively reckless. These so-called conservatives have been aptly labelled "Banana Republicans" since their record clearly indicates a willingness to enrich the few at the expense of the many and to turn the US economy into one any third world country would be proud to call its own -- roll back worker protections, environmental standards, product liability responsibilites and we too can have an economy like that of Mexico! It is interesting to see how many of these neo-con folks are direct or indirect disciples of Leo Strauss, a now deceased conservative scholar who was an ardent champion of Plato's notion that the best government is one conducted by philosopher-kings. Part of this philosophy explicitly affirms the need for leaders to be well practiced in the art of the 'noble lie' and Wolfowitz and his ilk seem to have learned this lesson all too well. One would think that paleo-cons in the tradition of the Republican party of Eisenhower must be appalled by the reckless and greedy behavior of the current neo-con leadership. The best of the Republican party resides on Main Street rather than Wall Street but unfortunately the Republican party has been hijacked by the Enrons and Halliburtons of the world. How long will Main Street Republicans and those who long for the simpler times associated with Eisenhower's America continue to be duped by these reckless idiots? I guess we will find out in November./dps