16. Whenever a Repug is face with the truth they react just like James.

Screaming lies very loudly does not make them the truth.

It might work in church but not the real world

langx at 6:03AM on May 21st 2007

17. 1. As to whether Rome's overawing other nations worked. It worked very well for a very long time. Rome maintained its empire, successfully suppressing the very few significant rebellions while keeping the one enemy it had in the civilized world (Persia) at bay. Rome fell primarily for some reasons that ought to be familiar to present-day Americans:

a. The number one reason was that beginning in the third century, there was an ever-increasing immigration of Germans, desperately poor people seeking the comfort and opportunity for wealth in the Roman Empire. Initially this was not a problem; they took entry-level jobs as household servants and farm laborers, learned Latin and sought Roman citizenship. But in the middle of the third century, the Goths began to swarm into the Empire, crossing (generally by swimming) the Danube, which was the border. The one outright invasion by the Goths at that time was defeated by Claudius II and Aurelian, but from about 250 on, the Goths within the Empire retained their own chieftains and lived in their own communities, speaking their Germanic language.

They became increasingly menacing over the years; in 378, the Emperor Valens tried to force them to leave, and the Goths defeated his army and killed him. The Goths swarmed through the empire. In 410, the Goths laid siege to Rome. In the night, German slaves inside the city opened the gates, the Goths took the city, and it was just a matter of time until, in 476, the western Empire fell.

Does a massive influx of people, many of them by crossing, generally by swimming, across a river that constitutes a good part of the border, speaking another language, initially taking low-paying jobs and attempting to assimilate, but later holding themselves separate from the majority culture and taking a more aggressive stance sound familiar? Ever hear of La Raza? Aztlan? La Reconquista?

b. In the years of Rome's growth, the nation had a large middle class of tradesmen, mid-size farmers (many of them former soldiers who got their land as a reward for their military service--can you say GI Bill?), and merchants. Citizens did not pay direct taxes; the subject nations did. Government bureaucracy was extremely small, consisting primarily of lawyers chosen by the Senate to hold the offices of aedile, quaestor, praetor, praefect and consul. A sort of ombudsmen, called the tribunes, were chosen by the people and had a veto power over any enactment of the Senate. Even tax collection was done primarily by private contractors. (Anyone familiar with the Gospels according to St. Matthew and St. Luke knows about the tax collectors, and their very bad reputation among the Jews; their reputation wasn't better elsewhere.)

With the fall of the Republic and establishment of the Empire, the first thing that happened was that the emperors chose the tribunes and told the Senate whom to select as consuls (and sometimes the lesser officials). Beginning with Tiberius, the second emperor, they intimidated the Senate into compliance (Augustus, the first emperor, had so much prestige, and was so subtle in his dealings with the Senate, that he did not need to resort to crude tactics, but most emperors after him did). So power was gathered into one man.

There was, beginning in the late third century and continuing through the fourth century, a massive growth in bureaucracy, and to support that bureaucracy, taxes increased massively. They were so crushing that the middle class was effectively destroyed, having to sell out their holdings to a small class of magnates with great wealth and clout. Does any of this sound familiar?

c. In the heyday of Rome, all citizens of Rome took their turn serving in the armed forces. The sons of the patrician and equestrian classes (roughly equivalent to the nobles and knights of the middle ages) considered it an honor and a public duty to serve. The patricians generally became officers; the knights generally went into cavalry units. But later on, increasingly in love with luxury, the young men of the wealthier classes began avoiding military service, and citizens as a whole began to do so. A class of professional soldiers developed, largely built on mercenaries, mostly German. The last two great generals of Rome, Stilicho and Aetius, were both Germans. There was ever-increasing effeteness in the upper classes and lethargy in the lower classes, who came to live only for free food and entertainment, which the government, and sometimes some of the richer citizens, provided. Civic pride was gone, and with it the will to fight to defend the Empire.

In short, Roman power, and willingness to use that power, as in Rome's suppression of rebellions by the Gauls and Jews about 70 AD and of a very large and briefly successful rebellion by the Syrians about 260 AD, was highly successful in preserving the Empire.

d. The decay of Roman morals from the death of Augustus on is notorious. Its effect has sometimes been overstated by modern moral crusaders, but they are not entirely wrong--the same increasing effeminacy of Roman men that showed itself in loss of fightins spirit also showed itself in widespread adulteries, incest and homosexuality. Already at the end of the reign of Claudius I and the beginning of the reign of Nero, about 53-55 BC, St. Paul is writing to the Corinthians concerning the "malakoi" and "arsenokoitai",along with fornicators, etc..

Destructive of the Empire were failure to control its borders and to assimilate the Germans, especially the Goths; increasing government bureaucracy and taxation; the concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands while the poor became dependent on a sort of welfare state; and the loss of fighting spirit and morals in the citizens. Every one of the things that destroyed the Roman Empire is true in today's America.

One other point--no amount of appeasement of the Germans would have stopped their invasions of the Empire. Attempts to accommodate them and to buy them off persuaded the Germans only of the lack of courage and decadence of the Romans, that Rome was ripe for the picking. Giving them land within the Empire only gave them staging areas for further invasions. By the time an emperor realized the danger and tried to do something about it, they had already become too strong, and the forces that would eventually conquer the Empire were already inside its boundaries.

Ken Howes at 1:32PM on May 22nd 2007

18. I very much identified with everything Ron Paul said in the debates. After hearing his responses, I had to hear more so I found myself researching Dr. Paul. I highly suggest anyone who cares about this country and its future do the same. It's time that we once again listened to the advice of the Founders and lived by the Constitution. Ron Paul is the only one who seems to care about that, so he will have my vote if he is nominated.

James at 3:07PM on May 28th 2007

19. RON PAUL,, A GREAT AMERICAN PATRIOT, A GREAT MAN,I AM IN AWE OF HIM, A DEFENDER OF THE U.S.CONSTITUTION,not the rest of the worlds constitutions or civil wars.HE has to stand ALONE on a stage with 9 BUSH parrots who are speaking almost the same lies BUSH STILL DOES. HE is INCORRUPTABLE and TOTALLY HONEST ,,amazing.. a almost nonexistent trait in U.S.POLITICS. GO HON. RON PAUL

B. L. TUCKER at 12:11AM on Jun 6th 2007