(from DEMOCRACY)

"It's coming through a hole in the air

from those nights in Tianenmen Square.

It's coming from the feel

that it ain't exactly real,

or it's real, but ain't exactly there.

From the wars against disorder,

from the sirens night and day;

from the fires of the homeless,

from the ashes of the gay:

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.



"Sail on, sail on

o mighty Ship of State

To the Shores of Need

past the Reefs of Greed

through the Squalls of Hate

Sail on, sail on"



(from ANTHEM)

"Can't run no more

with that lawless crowd

while the killers in high places

say their prayers out loud.

But they've summoned up

a thundercloud.

They're going to hear from me.



"Ring the bells that still can ring.

Forget your perfect offering.

There is a crack in everything.

That's how the light gets in.

That's how the light gets in.

That's how the light gets in."



-- More Best Of Leonard Cohen 19997

"I see a vision of the future like that of no other time in the world. People talk of Americanization of the world economy. I don't see Americanization, I see a bright future for America. A new manifest destiny, not one of clear cutting and taking lands by force of arms. A destiny of empowering and improving the impoverished and uneducated. A world of raising the less fortunate up into a realm where we all can partake equally in the fruits of the world." -- The XRide -- Generation X's Ride To Vote -- The Power of One

Graphic: Spirit of the Cherokee, oil on canvas by Sheila A. Sheppard-Sage, Jonesborough TN; photo from Johnson City Arts Council

"And reason...teaches all mankind who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions."

"I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts."

"Government has no other end but the preservation of Property."

"Every man has a property in his own person. This nobody has a right to, but himself."

-- John Locke, quoted from Dividing Line