I totally endorse the editorial written in this newspaper (August 6) about the manifestos of the political parties. The Dream Merchants of Pakistan have a bumper crop to sell these days. Our politicians may not be very apt in many matters (and believe me they are not) but they do excel in the art of political rhetoric. Capitalizing on the power of future tenses, they are making claims that border on insanity and easily put fairy tales to shame. If you take time and actually read the manifestos, you will be amused (and ashamed) how faithfully these people practice the old adage that a lie repeated oft becomes truth. But in this case there are no sporadic lies, there are whole fairy tales, artfully concocted. My milkman actually believes that there are only 37 months left before we declare poverty abolished in Pakistan; my barber is convinced that Bill Clinton is running scared now that Pakistan is ready to leash out its forces against them; my driver has made a bet that Jews will be eradicated once the new government takes over; my gardener is smiling at the prospect of being a land lord no sooner than the new prime minister is installed; my cleaning lady actually believes that her 11 children will have a school to go to come October 6th. These people are not fools; they are the living examples of what frustrations of life can do to you; make you dreamers. And how coincidental that there are Dream Merchants ready with their new shiny wares to sell them. When Martin Luther King said the famous words, "I have a dream," he wanted to express the power of dreams to achieve reality. Our politicians simply dreaming.

One of the cutest arguments you hear coming from the self-claimed political leaders is that "it is in our manifesto." Claiming that some thing will be accomplished if they are in power because it is in their manifesto beats any Aristotelian rhetoric. Just because it is written, it must be right and just because it is right, it shall be accomplished. Fooling us blind. But why does Nature let them get away with it? Where is the legendary strike of God's gable; why doesn't lightning strike?

It is interesting to note that the majority of candidates have recently been part of ruling governments; they had opportunities to convert their previous future tenses to present realities. They could not do it because their tenses were just too long. They are simply repeating their previous future tense statements and voters are actually listening. George Bush lost election because people remembered, "read my lips," rhetoric. What are we waiting for? Give 'em the boot.