Ed. My first comment is petty but begrudge me the point. While I would agree that you helped pay my wages while I have been in the service, I have also paid for MY OWN WAGES because I get taxed just like you do. Sorry, but that is a BIG pet peeve of mine.
I agree with a good portion of what you have said here up to the point that both of us are "faced with an ongoing fight to protect ourselves from the greed and avarice of a powerful and concerted drive to impoverish, not just us, but our children and our children's children for the benefit of an elite few". You don't specify who you think is trying to impoverish us. If you believe that it's conservatives in gov't I would have to disagree. I truly believe that true conservatism believes in sefl determination. It believes that no man needs the gov't to hold his hand or provide his living for him. In this great country we live in, there is no reason why a man (or woman) can't stand up on their own 2 feet and make a good life for themselves. The founding fathers made a point of this in the statement "that all powers not specified for the federal gov't belong to the states" (not an exact quote, in a hurry to finish the post). The Federal gov't should have NO major involvement in our lives other than the basic services (ie. defense, roads etc..). The fed's have usurped entirely too much power from the states and should return such forth with. This nation was founded as a constitutional republic and should return to such. Give the power back to the states and locallities and many of the problems we experience with the Fed's would disapear. If you take away some of the monsters size, you wouldn't have to feed the monster so much. I know this kinda rambles, I hope it gives you a better idea on my true feelings concerning gov't