Just to make sure there is no misunderstanding, Joe, that means Senator Thompson is innocent. Those who made the trumped up accusations and treated them as fact, on the other hand, are guilty of attempting to mislead.

Can I assume that you and Mr. Niedermayr are graduates of the same school of communication? Like Mr. Niedermayr’s letter, your blanket peppering of oppositions is all over the place. Point by point is the only option for response.

1. In reference to your words, “daft provocation aimed at dividing people”: How do you describe Mr. Niedermayr’s tirade?

2. In reference to you interpretation of the word, “protest”: It is generally accepted that the first part of a sentence bears relevance to the second part of a sentence. If a sentence begins with “capitalists produce” and ends with “while others protest”, a good number of readers might understand the intended meaning, that capitalists’ ownership of their own production is often protested by those who want to enjoy all the benefits of production gratis, either because:

–they are envious and feel automatically entitled to a share of everything that exists,
–they are envious but are unwilling to invest the time, effort, money and risk that production requires or,
–they are envious but just plain can’t figure out how to produce.

3. In reference to your confusion over the intended meanings of control, preeminence and exploitation: Please see 2.

4. Why are you introducing the term “socialist?” Is it “a daft provocation aimed at dividing people”?

5. It is surely your right to disagree with the “maker-taker” terminology. Also, it sounds like you might be calling yourself a capitalist. Do you consider yourself an actual free enterprise capitalist or a state capitalist? (Free Enterprise Capitalism is to State Capitalism as Legitimate Journalism is to New Journalism.)

7. Can you explain your thought process in presenting “advancing toward the fullest possible employment” and “marginalizing people in trouble” as an either/or proposition? Can you explain how, in your thought process and in conjunction with the discussion at hand, those two ideas are related?

Who is a capitalist? Who is not? If I earn a wage, from a for-profit business, and I think that your post is a daft provocation aimed at dividing people, do I still get to be a capitalist (assuming I pass your test in the first place, as one who does not own the business?)

Everyone protests. Don’t suggest that “capitalists” only produce while “others” only protest. I’ve been around a Chamber of Commerce or two in my life, and bitching is what they do best. And that’s fine! They’re SUPPOSED to do that!

Lots of capitalists seek control and pre-eminence — pursuits you ascribe only to “others.” Aren’t control and pre-eminence the whole idea? Henry Ford? Bill Gates? Steve Jobs? Hell, if I ran, say, a bakery, I’d be all ABOUT control and pre-eminence.

And I’d exploit my freedom to pursue those goals.

But before I get too far along, I should seek your counsel on whether I qualify as a “capitalist.”

I do? Good (that “socialist” label gets used awfully loosely these days, and I don’t want any confusion).

As a capitalist, I disagree with your verbal construction that I “make” while “others take.”

I’m more concerned with advancing toward the fullest possible employment than with marginalizing people in trouble.

America is unique in human history. It was founded on a categorical imperative, the recognition of and respect for the rights of the individual. Free market capitalism is the moral and logical economic extension of that imperative.

Your message may resonate better if you also characterized a recent Democrat Presidential Candidate in a fair manner as he also is due at least the same if not more criticism than what you traject upon Mr. Romney. As a capitalist, I appreciate people who work to the economic benefit of all.

Please explain to me, how Mr. Kerry is different, as his family is the heir to the Heinz (ketchup) fortune, and he has personally benefitted to the tune of HUNDREDS of millions of dollars, at a tax rate of less than 13%? The Kerry family was instrumental in closing some Heinz factories in the US and moving that production to Mexico, resulting in the loss of thousands of good paying, middle class jobs, most of which were union manufacturing positions. This also crippled the ususally small rural towns where Heinz operates, resulting in massive tax losses to schools and communites, and causing the property taxes of all those middle-class residents to skyrocket to make up the difference after the Heinz plants were shuddered. In order to put millions in the pocket of Mr. Kerry and his family, thousands were put on unemployment, paid for with federal and state tax dollars, thousands lost health insurance and even a retirement they palnned for long ago. And why don’t you talk about Nancy Pelosi? She and her family own several lodging properties in California, and the family LOCKED OUT employees who wanted to unionize, get better pay and benefits, and maybe even a little respect from their employer, the Pelosi family.

Your sense of fairness is questionable at best. I suggest you take off the blinders and go to the library for research before you blast with both barrels in one direction when this stuff comes from at least two directions: The Republicans and the Democrats.