Re[2]: [at-l] The Snowmobile Thing

[Bob C." <ellen@clinic.net (Bob C.)]

"...need  to  take a long, hard look at what their premises (dealing with public
control of natural treasures) have led to in Yellowstone." argues RF.

I'm not sure what RF means here, but if he is suggesting that it would have been
better  had the government sold the public land that became Yellowstone National
Park,  we  need  to  consider  what the alternatives would have been. A few very
wealthy  people  would  have  had  very  big  mansions  overlooking  the  scenic
attractions of the park. Very little, if any public access, would exist.

Similarly  with  the  trail.  Had Congress not passed and Presidents Johnson and
Carter  not  signed the bills that afforded at least some federal protection for
the  trail, a thru hike these days would likely have traversed hundreds of miles
of paved roads.

If RF is urging eternal citizen vigil over the actions of their government, than
he  is of course right. Yes. Grey Owl, my Congressman knows me by my first name.
I've  met  with  him  in  his  Maine  office.  I  write and send emails as seems
appropriate. Likewise to my Senators.

Bush,  like  Reagan and Nixon before him, seems dedicated to pushing the laws to
their  limits  and  beyond.  That's  why  the  defeat  of  liberal  and moderate
candidates  in  the  elections  this  month  was so serious. Bush now has mostly
unhindered   power   to  appoint  judges  to  ratify  his  anti-environment  and
anti-constitutional beliefs.

My hope is that the genuine conservatives in the Congress will have the guts and
intelligence  to recognize that fair enforcement of the laws and respect for the
constitution requires good judges, not right-wing ideologues.

I'm  reminded of George Orwell's 1984. Doublespeak is alive and well. After half
a  century  of  mostly Republican Presidents, railing against the "Warren Court"
and  nominating  judges,  we have created the most activist Supreme court in the
nation's  history.  Neither  laws,  the  constitution nor legal precedents guide
their most important decisions.

Weary