CONTROL...NOT IMPEACHMENT

Misanthropic Boomer

On January 3, 2019 the 116^th Congress shall meet for the very first time. Due to the results of the 2018 mid-term elections there will be a changing of the guard in the House of Representatives: the Democrats will hold sway in the House after taking forty seats away from their adversaries from across the aisle. The Senate will remain in Republican control, under the leadership of Mitch McConnell. The Republicans seem more determined than ever to hunker down and protect the President, while, as everyone is aware, the Democrats will be out for blood. They have been beaten up pretty badly in the House since the 2010 mid-terms when the Republicans gained control of the House and were determined to prevent President Obama from having a successful second term. Democrats lost control of the Senate when Mitch McConnell became Majority leader in 2015 following Democrats losses in the 2014 mid-terms. This promises to be very interesting political Kabuki Theater over the next two years. However, perhaps that element should be left to smaller minds with fewer parameters controlling their moral code.

As the Trump Presidency seems to flounder, and the likelihood of more and harsher criminal activities being uncovered by Robert Mueller and his team seem inevitable, there is an abundance of impeachment talk going around. Perhaps the loudest voice of those calling for Trump’s impeachment is Tom Steyer. Billionaire philanthropist Steyer, former Hedge Fund manager and founder of Farallon Capital has spent millions of dollars over the last two years on media ads advocating impeachment. There are also many House and Senate Democrats calling for blood. House member Al Green laid out Articles of Impeachment and was joined by nearly sixty of his fellow Congress Persons in seeking to impeach the President. This is not a good idea for many reasons, the most important of which is that if Articles of Impeachment are drawn up and tendered to the Congress nothing will be accomplished for the next two years (including a successful impeachment) and the Democrats will then lose the House, and probably the Senate In 2020. Everyone calling for impeachment needs to take a deep breath and examine both their own motives and their chances for success.

First, the Democrat’s motives are simple, they are offended…their feelings are hurt…because of how they have been treated by President Trump. They, like Tom Steyer may claim it is because of his actions in office, or his collusion with the Russians, and his blatant obstruction of justice. That is just a poor excuse that impeachment will do nothing to change. The nation would be better served if Steyer would put his money to use helping the homeless, immigrants, and the poor: and if Democrats legislatively repair some of the damage done by the inept inhabitant of the Oval Office.

The way to beat Donald Trump is not to impeach him, but to control him. If the Democrats foolishly waste their time on impeachment, they will inevitably fail. They may successfully get the Articles of Impeachment through the House, but they will then hit a wall. Once the Articles of Impeachment pass the House they will be turned over to the Republican controlled Senate who will hold the trial; presided over by the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Roberts, also a Republican. And, while there is no doubt that Chief Justice Roberts will preside over the proceedings fairly and honestly, there is also no doubt as to the outcome. Trump and his cronies will be successful in fending off the Democrats attack. The ultimate result, the Democrats look bad and Trump will be more determined than ever to crush them.  Nothing accomplished for the next two years. The people will blame the Democrats.

If the Democrats really want to thwart Donald J. Trump there is a much easier and more effective way. First they must continue the House Hearings; not with an eye to indict, but with the goal of exposing transparently Trump’s transgressions against the American people. Air his dirty laundry. Put his inadequacies on display. Support the Muller investigation at every turn, but do not pass judgment…let the American electorate do that. Second get something done.

Nothing of major import has been accomplished by the Trump Administration. The Democrats must get things done. They must stop their own internecine rivalries and bickering. Those neophyte Representatives who would replace, or neutralize Nancy Pelosi must swallow their pride (their time will come) and recognize Ms. Pelosi’s abilities and use her to get helpful legislation passed. The kinds of legislative actions taken are most critical to their success as they will still have to deal with the Senate and the President. Immigration reform, and that old bugaboo Healthcare would be the two issues to start with: Infrastructure would be third if there is enough time. The proposed legislation must be palatable to both sides of the Aisle or nothing will get done. A good way to begin would be to have public hearings on Healthcare and Immigration. Ask the people what they want; don’t tell the people what they need. The hearings should be brief, televised, and open to members of the electorate in order to first find out what is required and to second gain the support of the voters.

If the Democrats follow the outline above they won’t need to think about impeachment because they will be in a position to control the Administration and the President’s bad behavior. If Trump is controlled and the voting public is given legislation that helps and doesn’t hurt, Trump will not run for re-election…he may even decide to quit.

LETTER TO PRESIDENT THOMAS JEFFERSON

Misanthropic Boomer

I was fortunate enough to have found this letter. It is from the United States of America to President Thomas Jefferson. I don't know when the nation found the time or energy to write this but here it is...

The Honorable Thomas Jefferson

President of the United States

Family Plot

Monticello, VA

Dear President Jefferson

Hello sir, you may remember me. My name is “The United States of America.” I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to you, Mssrs. Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison, et al. It is obvious by now that I did not turn out as expected. I never quite matured, and do consider myself to be a complete and utter failure. I have not come close to the hope that you, who was both father and mid-wife to me, had for my place in history. I am also sorry that I disappointed your political descendants, such as Mr. Lincoln, both of the Roosevelts, Jack and Robert Kennedy, and Barack Obama

I am fully aware that your intentions were to prevent the abuses of humanity under which you and your fellow Americans were suffering at the hands of a despot. I am also cognizant of the fact that I was supposed to ever better serve my entire citizenry as I matured; at this I have failed. Once again I feel I must apologize.

When you drafted the Declaration of Independence, you were quite careful to delineate all of the reasons that justified the need for redress. Within those justifications you were careful to not only detail the nation’s grievances, but to suggest why and how they must be redressed; and the consequence of failure.

“I regret that I am now to die,” you wrote, “in the belief that the useless sacrifice of themselves by the generation of 1776, to acquire self-government and happiness to their country, is to be thrown away by the unwise and unworthy passions of their sons, and that my only consolation is to be, that I live not to weep over it. If they would but dispassionately weigh the blessings they will throw away, against an abstract principle more likely to be effected by union than by scission, they would pause before they would perpetrate this act of suicide on themselves, and of treason against the hopes of the world.”

Unfortunately those very prescient words have fallen upon deaf ears. It was actually thus from the very beginning. Although you and your most bold and amiable fellows were indeed on the correct path you did, for the sake of expediency take, shall we call them shortcuts. The refusal to deal up front with the issues of Slavery, Women’s Suffrage, and Indigenous Peoples (it was you that posited “all men are created equal, and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights and that among these rights are the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”) was definitely a weak position to take in my birthing. I do understand that there were issues such as these that you felt might jeopardize the successful achievement of your work. Thus, although I am saddened by the three-fifths compromise, I really do try to understand the position y in which you found yourselves. However, in all fairness the lack of attention to these omissions is, in great part, a significant contributory factor to my failings as a nation. I cannot begin to detail the suffering they have caused me, I know that Mr. James Madison made every effort to see to it that the shortcomings of my conception could be overcome by ensuring that no one part of me would be more important than another. His concept of a three pronged governing body with equal powers and responsibilities was sheer genius. Unfortunately I have learned in the last two hundred odd years that man’s greed, mendacity, and lust for power transcend even the most well intentioned control systems.

I do not intend to lay the bulk of the blame for my failure on you and your comrade’s shoulders. You did a remarkable job given the time in history, and the general lack of integrity and veracity in human beings. I must admit that my conception was daring and more than a bit heroic. You had no way of knowing that it is next to impossible to make a government, or any other abstract system foolproof…fools are far too ingenious.

A fair example of your general lack of understanding of human nature is evidenced in the Constitution over which you and your fellows so diligently labored. You gentlemen carefully stated that the Congress should meet at least once a year, preferably after the annual harvest had been accomplished, sometime in December; and/or when anything of significant import should arise: the obvious implication was that it was a part time position. Failure came when you did not recognize the fundamentally base nature of human beings and thus specify term limits on the Congress, or that that particular government service should never become a profession unto itself. That omission has led me to some of my most painful and hobbling episodes. Avaricious men have decided that Congress Person is a wonderful profession (did I forget to mention that a correction was made some one hundred thirty-three years after my birth that gave women the right to vote…oh yes, Black Men and Indigenous Men were also franchised eighty-one years following my Natal arrival.): it is a position that can make people wealthy and can be a substitute for the royalty that was eliminated when you and your audacious fellows broke with the tyrannous royalty that held sway at the time of the rebellion. This is achieved by allowing the passing down of the position of Representative or Senator, or even President to one’s children due to the fact that it takes a great deal of money to acquire such a position. It begins to give the appearance of “The Divine Right of Kings.”

Of course, since it has become a profession and people stay at it for twenty or more years, it becomes much like an elite club, with the members all doing favors for one another and for people that are called lobbyists who represent special interests…unfortunately the Congress, my lawmakers have begun to believe that this is their main job, not the People’s business. Theses professional Representatives and Senators have also exempted themselves from the laws which the rest of my people must follow. All this because, although a brilliant political philosopher, you apparently learned very little from the tyranny from which you removed the yoke. You didn’t look around the King to the sycophants that attended him; else you would have prepared for that eventuality as well.

Although you and your most exemplary companions my not have necessarily have believed in your own White Superiority, since you neglected to address the issue it has become one of the major indicators of my failure as a nation. As I previously indicated it took 81 years to merely acquire the franchise for the descendants of those human beings stolen from their homes in Africa. Eighty-one years may not be long in the history of my time, however, in human terms it is sufficiently long enough for prejudices to develop and be sustained to the point of attempts to change those particular ideas caused a schism of such magnitude that a war was fought over them which, to be quite frank, damn near killed me. Although we had a very courageous and insightful President, Mr. Abraham Lincoln (I think you would have liked him) that stewarded me through those hard war years, a damage was done to my psyche as a nation from which I have still have been unable to recover.

That “Civil War” as it is referred was not civil at all, and it did great damage from which, I have as yet to recover. Oh, to be sure I have facilitated many great happenings in the history of humankind, and solved many apparently unsolvable problems, but always at a tremendous cost. As I said, I facilitated the franchise of Americans of African descent, but at the cost of my near demise. I was first to develop the kind of travel and communications infrastructure that allowed me to dominate the world’s commerce, however that promoted a kind of secret Imperialism worldwide. I am also the chief reason that the entire planet is at risk from the pollutants which I not only allowed, but promoted as well. I saved the world from a Monster from Bavaria, but in doing so I made possible the entire world’s destruction through my people’s development of wartime atomic technology. I am the only nation that has used that technology on another nation.

In addition to all of these things you must know that I have allowed my citizens to know many false fears, the worst of which is the fear of “others:” those who don’t look, or act like you Mr. Jefferson and the other Founders. In support of that fear (it is called xenophobia…isn’t that a horrid sounding word?) I have allowed people of our descendents from Africa to be hung for no reason other than they seem to be different (it is called “lynching”…isn’t that also a horrid word?). I also allowed the imprisonment of thousands of my own citizens because they merely looked like an enemy with which we were at war (I called that “internment”…another horrid work: and a lie). I did not do that to my people who looked to be of European descent, like you Mr. Jefferson, with whom we were also at war.

Mr. Jefferson I don’t know what to do. I have done and allowed many terrible things. Your lack of foresight is partly to blame, but I did these things so I won’t lay the fault at your door. However, would that it not be overly much trouble for you as you rest in your grave, to give me some hint, some tiny clue as to how I can pull myself together and fulfill the dreamed of promise you envisioned for me. I need help Mr. Jefferson, and I know it will not come from the government “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” because the “people” are not only no longer in charge, they aren’t even considered.

That’s about all I have to say Mr. Jefferson. I do want to apologize, for being such an abject failure and for disturbing your slumber. Thank you for listening, and if you come up with an idea of how fix things (your last one was a pip) you know where to reach me.

Sincerely,

The United States of America

TIME TO PUT ON THE BRAKES

Misanthropic Boomer

I was watching portions of MSNBC’s coverage of the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires when the camera panned over to the meeting of two of the world’s most infamous murderers; Vladimir Putin, who has had his adversaries assassinated both in Russia’s prisons and, very boldly in other sovereign nations; and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud (MBS), the murderer of U.S. resident, journalist Jamal Khashoggi,. MBS has also had his own relatives assassinated in order to become first in the line of succession to the King. The two murderous monsters greeted each other more warmly than is their normal wont. As they clasped hands and smiled knowingly at one another I could see in their eyes a common bond of dictatorial fellowship; birds of a feather (vultures…if you think this is hyperbole, look at Putin’s eyes). The first thing that came to mind was that they were grinning because they shared the strings of a common puppet; sadly for America, one Donald J. Trump, President of these United States. President Trump (there was a time when I refused to say President with his name, but he and Congress have allowed the degradation of the office to the point of meaninglessness) is the facilitator in chief for the two, and other dictatorial leaders , such as Xi Jinping, China’s President for Life (a euphemism for dictator).  Trump has done their bidding at every turn; siding with the two murderous ones against his own Intelligence Organizations, i.e., NSA, CIA, FBI, et al. As for his relations with Jinping, he has instigated his “trade War” implementing tariffs that are not hurting China nearly as much as they are the American people.

It is obvious not only from watching MBS and Putin lovingly greet one another, but from Trump’s indefensible actions that these men believe they are going to carve up the world with each to have his share to rule. At this point in time it would seem that they not only have the upper hand, but they have an ally who will do whatever it takes to feather his own nest: Trump. It would seem there is nothing they need to be afraid to do because the only power on earth that can do anything to stop them is being held hostage by the misogynistic nationalist threat currently occupies the oval office. Trump has given in to them at every turn, always citing the economic benefit to the U.S. (he of course means himself) of allowing them to bring down their jackboots on people with whom they have a grudge, or a desire to have what they posses.

Trump not only turns a blind eye to their murderous endeavors, but also to their manipulations of nationalistic maneuvers; MBS vicious inhumane war with Yemen, and Putin’s ever more aggressive moves against the Ukraine.  Trump doesn’t really need to assist Jinping  in the same way since he already has his tremendously large kingdom intact. However what Trump is doing for Jinping is allowing him to blatantly manipulate American companies that choose to do business with China, by not stepping up the rhetoric or actions on the violations of intellectual property rights that China so blatantly steals. Nor does he assist U.S. companies trying to get a fair deal with the Chinese. In addition he is helping not only China, but corporate America with his inane tariff wars. He is hurting our allies and killing manufacturing jobs in the U.S. which now often go overseas to China, or south to Mexico; witness the latest round of auto plant closings. He is also killing the American family farmer.

Eighty-seven plus percent of all food grown and distributed in the United States is produced by family farms. It is one of the last industries not dominated by huge multinational conglomerates. However, if Trump and his allies in Congress have their way that will all change in a very short period of time. 

Family farms are forced to operate by taking out tremendously large loans each year against their incoming crops. When the crops are sold in the marketplace the farmers repay the loans and prepare for the following season and more and renewed loans. They must operate this way because they cannot amass enough cash to carry them through more than one growing and distribution season. Trump’s tariffs are killing the family farms exports which they rely upon to acquire the money to pay off the yearly loans. The tariffs are going to cause many of them to file for bankruptcy, which will make it harder to get the loans they need to continue operations. It will be a boon for the multinationals that have the cash and will take the farms for pennies on the dollar. In the meantime the farmers are raising domestic prices in the attempt to stave off the oncoming disaster. This results in significantly higher prices at the supermarket. Just compare the weekly grocery bill from the last year President Barack Obama was in office to what it is now; approximately twenty-five to thirty percent higher.

It is past the time for America to wake up. This is not what the Founding Fathers envisioned when they declared independence from foreign control; what we have now in essence is a modicum of foreign control. Our nation has not always followed the ideals set forth by our antecedents; freedom, equality, dignity, and opportunity, but the tools are available. We can still make it work. The American Dream was just a dream for most because of the divisions propagated by the few. It doesn’t have to be that way. We must not let Trump, Putin, MBS, Jinping, et al have their way with the world. It doesn’t have to be a feudal division between the haves and have nots. It is time for the American people to rise up and fulfill their destiny. Revolution is not a bad thing, and if we are to more than just survive, if our posterity is to thrive, revolution is a must.

We must rise as one and force Congress to deal with Trump and his thieving cohorts. Impeachment is out of the question; that would merely replace the grifter in chief with a weak willed spineless sycophant, one Michael Pence. No, what we need to do is to force Congress to do the job for which they were assembled…to prevent the President from doing harm to the nation. The current Women’s and minority uprisings are a good start, but not enough. We must flood the Chambers of Congress with emails (bring down their servers), letters (give them no room in their offices), telephone calls (tie up their lines of communication) and go to the streets and protest…tell them exactly what we want. There can be no more “others” no more men, women, black, white, brown, gay, straight, Jew, Catholic, Protestant…there can only be Americans. Americans united under one banner, our flag, representing total equality, dignity, opportunity and freedom. No longer can we allow the Mitch McConnell tell us what can and cannot come to the floor for a vote. No longer can we allow Democrats or Republicans to waste our time and money with investigative vendettas; and no longer can we allow Congress to steal from us, take that which we have worked so very hard for.

“United we stand, and divided we fall.” It sounds so very simple, but we have let a rigged system keep us divided. That must stop. I implore you, look at your neighbor and see yourself. We all want the same thing, to get a fair chance and to be happy. And this can be achieved. There is no good reason that one percent of the people control ninety percent of the wealth. As long as it stays that way we will all be at one another’s throats to get the scraps that are left. We must define “enough.” More is not a viable definition; more eventually runs out. Wake up; don’t succumb to fear and hatred. Think about this, fear, hatred, and persecution have never once in history helped anyone but the historic few; the one percenters…don’t hate them either, but make certain that they know inevitable change must come. If it doesn’t we will ultimately destroy one another and we, like so many before us will become extinct.

MIRROR, MIRROR

Misanthropic Boomer

AN OPEN LETTER TO MISSISSIPPI VOTERS

Tomorrow the people of Mississippi will cast their vote for one of two Senators to represent them in Washington. I believe this is a most critical time for the people of Mississippi…I am certain they do as well. However I don’t think Mississippians and I have the same things on our minds. Mississippians are concerned about who will represent them in The Chambers of the Senate of the United States; an important concern no doubt. I, on the other hand, am concerned about not just Mississippi, but about the United States in general and the health of the people of Mississippi.

People of Mississippi, before you go to the polls to cast your vote for either Cyndi Hyde-Smith, or Mike Espy I think it is very important for your state and our nation that you find the best mirror in your home, the one with the best lighting, and stand in front of said mirror, make certain all the lights are on, close your eyes and take a deep breath: open your eyes and reflect upon whom it is that is looking back at you. Please, look beyond the reflection that you expect to be looking back from that strange looking glass world of Alice. Look not with your eyes, but rather your heart and soul. Who is looking at you? Is it that soulful and generous, kind and loving human being that you want the world to know…or is it Cyndi Hyde-Smith?

The Civil war has been buried with the bygone era that gave us the misunderstood idea that “others,” those who do not look and act exactly as we do, are somehow less human than we are. The Bible tells us that that kind of thinking is wrong.  Your God had Moses lead the Jews out of Egypt because slavery is anathema. There is nothing that your Bible tells you that would condone the hatred of “others.” Jesus said to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. He did not equivocate on this and neither should anyone else, ever. It is the twenty-first century, long past the time for the divisions that created our own Civil war to be abandoned. Think about that for a moment won’t you. What good has ever become of hatred and persecution? If you want to feel superior then act like a superior human, not like a bully who is afraid of that which he does not understand.

You must be aware that the entire world is staring down at your beautiful state, with its cedar groves in the marshes, stately mansions, lush green meadows and wonderful food cooked by people whose food tastes so good because it is prepared ever so slowly with care and love. You must know that everyone is wondering whether you are going to stand for fairness, kindness, love, and respect for all men and women, or are you going to put the weight of your home and life behind a candidate who has openly spoken of her hatred of anyone who isn’t just like her, of her love of a cause that counted its triumphs in the number of “others” that were lynched for no good reason other than they were different. Or, will you step out of the darkness of the back side of your mirror and see the reflection of the goodness in a caring heart.

Please remember Cyndi Hyde-Smith is only your friend as long as you agree with her and can give her the support she needs to spread her vitriolic way of life. I am a Jew and before Adolph Hitler rose to power in Germany the Jews of Germany were thought to be exemplary citizens. The Jews loved Germany. It had been their home for well over a century, and they, as all good citizens do, took pride in their nation, and were generous toward their fellow German citizens. That all ended simply because a selfish megalomaniac needed a goat…and so even though they supported him, Hitler turned on them and six million of my Landsmen died for no good reason. I am not saying that Hyde-Smith is Hitler, however I do want you to think about the fact of life that people like Hyde-Smith are feckless, faithful to none but themselves regardless of what they say…because what they say is an expedient: whatever will get them what they want.

Unlike Cyndi Hyde-Smith l will apologize if I have said anything to offend. However, regardless of what you think of me, please look hard into that mirror and be selfish; think of yourself and do not let malevolence cause you to vote against your own best self interest.

Good luck on your journey, I hope it is a successful one.

WEAPONIZING PATRIOTISM

Misanthropic Boomer

I can no longer sit silently while our faux patriots condemn any and all who dare to challenge the historical veracity of the American Flag, the National Anthem, or the position Christianity holds in the nation. As long as the government of the United States (we the people are responsible for whatever our government does) allows the veterans of whom the coach is speaking, to be homeless and live in cardboard boxes under freeway overpasses, to be less than adequately treated by the V.A., and to have the Congress of the United States continually vote against Veterans Affairs legislation, the coach's words ring hollow.

Not following the supposed etiquette of patriotism is hypocritical at the least, and kvetching about it to the entire world while allowing the double standards within the military to not merely exist, but to thrive is, in and of itself criminal. The most  excellent example of this pervasive attitude can be seen in how rape is handled within the services...it's not. The military has the highest incidence of unreported assaults of any profession. It is not a secret, yet again, we the people cannot be bothered,  so it continues, with the victim and the whistle blower being criminalized and the perpetrator getting transfer, thus avoiding all the ugliness attendant with the complaint.

To my knowledge the United States has not lost a single chair to a foreign entity since the end of the Second World War. Every engagement since WWII has been in defense of our corporations rather than our people. So exactly who is disrespecting whom? Salute the flag but allow it's defenders and their families to go hungry and be homeless; know the words to the National Anthem...first verse only...and ignore the racist sentiments in the second verse; promise to take care of the soldier in the field, yet provide sub-standard equipment and services (the civilian, no bid, contractors caused many deaths through inadequate water treatment, and electrocutions due to improper remote hookups and were paid handsomely during the Iraq war)...all of which is ignored. We also quickly forgot about our own government not providing protective armour, or enough ammunition to our troops. However, let one man speak up and he gets crucified...for telling the truth.

From my perspective a much greater disservice is performed every time our so-called patriots open their mouths in order to criticize what they do not understand...nor apparently care to rectify. It is, after all, much easier to point the finger and spew jingoisms than to actually try to fix real problems.

And, finally. a much bigger worry should be what will we do when the phony patriotism no longer works. What will we do when there really is a threat and we cannot raise an army (recruitment numbers continue to drop) because we worry more about the flag than the men and women who fight for it

DON'T DRAIN THAT SWAMP

DON’T DRAIN THAT SWAMP -- Part 1 of 2

“Drain the swamp,” is a political reference going back to the Reagan Presidency; specifically linking the elimination of mosquitoes by swamp drainage to cleaning up the Washington bureaucracies. It is really a poor metaphor. The swamp is an eco system, and like all eco systems should be viewed with an eye to keeping it in balance rather than attempting to eliminate it.

When I grew up in the 1950s my parents bought a home not very far from the Northwest corner of a finger of the Dominguez Slough. A not insignificant area was covered by the slough, taking in parts of San Pedro, Lomita, Carson, Gardena, and a bit of Compton. I was familiar with the slough from where a finger began at Vermont and Artesia (now know as the Gardena Willows) and ran into what was then Victoria Park. I spent much of my childhood exploring this particular area of the swamp, and I learned that what keeps the eco system running smoothly is in knowing what causes imbalance to occur. Should the food chain be disrupted something that was insignificant can cause the imbalance to tip in the direction of disaster. So draining the swamp isn’t necessarily the best approach for saving the entire system.

Since our politicians are so fond of jingoism and creating sound bites that they believe will remain in the voter’s minds they don’t much care about accuracy; it’s much more about what is retained. Let’s look at whether we should drain the swamp, and what will be accomplished if we do. President Trump, during his Presidential campaign said that he would drain the swamp and it would put ethics back into the Washington playbook. I believe if he drains the swamp there will be nothing but a rotten sludge left…the government already has an unpleasant odor about it, no need to make it worse.

So then if we aren’t going to drain it, what should we do about the swamp? The answer seems to me to be quite simple; bring the eco system back into balance. Three issues come to mind when I think of rebalancing the Political Eco-system. The three issues are: 1) Term Limits, 2) Money, and 3) Accountability. The Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court, and the lack of any desire on the part of office holders to establish term limits for those elected to serve in either the House of Representatives or the Senate.

Term Limits

The recognition of the need for term limits dates back to the democracies and republics of antiquity. The Greeks of both ancient Athens and Sparta rotated their representative memberships annually. The ancient Romans featured a system of elected officeholders—tribunes of the plebs, aediles, quaestors, praetors, consuls and pro-consuls. They only served a single term of one year in any particular office. Re-election to the same office was forbidden for ten years. This was to prevent corruption, because authority was never held in any one person’s hands long enough for corrupt relationships to be sustained. Many of the founders of the United States were highly educated, and quite familiar with classical history, and rotation in office during antiquity. It is somewhat surprising that term limits were left out of the Constitution.

The men who drafted the U.S. Constitution never intended for politics to become a profession. They believed that Congress would convene at least once yearly and so they put into the Constitution the following: “The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.” Article I, Section 4, Clause 2. This was highly debated and was settled on for the Month of December due in part to the persuasive arguments of James Wilson and Oliver Ellsworth. They successfully argued that meeting in December would be more convenient for private business, because most Members would be involved with agriculture during the spring and summer. The Founding Fathers believed Congress persons would meet annually to do the nations business, and then go back to working at their professions. There was never any intention for government to be a full time position for any but the President, his cabinet, and the Supreme Court.

The lack of term limits for members of the House and Senate lead to what can only be described as unhealthy relationships with lobbyists and the Congress person’s peers, other office holders. The former leading to the potential for bribery, the latter to pork barrel legislation, as well as ignoring the need to scrutinize the financial impact of monies spent due to a tendency toward “you scratch my back…” you know the rest. An additional downside to having no term limits is that the incumbent office holder gains an unfair advantage at re-election time, due to name recognition and an established “track record” of accomplishments. It also potentially makes for a greedy and lazy electorate. If the incumbent has provided services that are beneficial to his or her specific “tribe” they will want to reward her with votes. And, since the incumbent is already a familiar face, there is little need to spend time on the other candidate’s bona fides. Finally, it is by now well known that running for public office is a very expensive proposition, and that, again the incumbent usually has the advantage. It is generally easier for the incumbent to raise the money needed to finance a campaign because they have had time in the halls of power to meet and develop friendly relations with the money people, and the lobbyists, who have a great desire to donate to the incumbent in order to curry favor with someone who has many “friends” in the system.

Perhaps the most important reason for initiating a system of term limits is that there is a great deal of talent being held back just by the nature of incumbents winning time after time; giving no other talented politico a chance. This is not going to be easy to achieve. Using our swamp analogy we’re about to ask Mr. Catfish to stick to scraps and such, and to leave Mr. Crayfish alone. Then we’re going to remind Mr. Crayfish of how we saved him from Mr. Catfish, and ask him not to eat the pollywogs so Mr. and Mrs. Frog can have a family. The sad thing is that even though they know it is good for them, neither the Critters in our swamp, nor the ones in the Washington Swamp will listen to reason. They will have to be dragged along, kicking and screaming, before doing what’s best for all of us....end Part 1