Running the Country III

Democracy is the art of running the circus from the monkey cage.

— H. L. Menken


Running the Country II

If I wished to put a curse on a nation, I would invoke the gods to decree that it be governed by those who consider themselves to be the only true patriots in it.

— Sydney J. Harris


Running the Country

Too bad all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxi cabs and cutting hair.

— George Burns


Tyranny and Oppression

If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

—James Madison, fourth US president (1751-1836)


Government

Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.

– Mark Twain

As I watched the latest meltdown from the latest cabinet confirmations I can’t help but think that Mark Twain may have been on to something in his assessment of people who run for political office.

It has been obvious to me for a long time that congress is broken. I couldn’t quite articulate exactly how I thought it was broken but I knew something was wrong. And then I discovered Lawrence Lessig’s latest mission. Partnering with Joe Trippi, he is determined to change congress. He makes a powerful case that lobbying and special interests have eroded the very foundations of the constitution.

Through the magic of podcasts I have heard him speak on the subject on two occasions and I concur with his diagnosis. The best of his talks was titled Coding Against Corruption. He opens with three brilliant examples showing how big money yields undue influence resulting in absurd and corrupt decisions by congress. He then goes on to make a great case that we can change the way the system works.

Lessig is a masterful speaker and presenter. The rhythm and pace of his presentations are mesmerizing. His subject matter insightful and profound. Give a listen to Coding Against Corruption. It will be an hour well spent. It will change the way you think about congress.

Redefining WMD

MSNBC ran the startling headline this morning: Man arrested near Capitol faces WMD charge. How intriguing! Was a criminal mastermind skulking through the streets of DC with a nuclear bomb in his trunk?

<the suspect> tried to manufacture a “weapon of mass destruction, that is, an explosive device capable of causing multiple deaths or serious bodily injuries to multiple persons, or massive destruction of property,”

At the height of the Cold War, “weapons of mass destruction” meant nuclear warheads that were capable of eliminating broad swaths of humanity with a single explosion. With the onset of the “war on terror” we expanded WMD to include bio-weapons that could infect the water supply for an entire city or chemicals that could poison the air of a local community.

Now it seems that our redefinition of the phrase has gone too far. From the article:

The device was made of a can of gunpowder taped to a box of shotgun shells and a bottle with buckshot or BB pellets, according to court documents.

Excuse me? Our BB Bomber constructed a make-shift bomb from a coffee can and some shotgun shells and he is being charged with trying to manufacture a WMD? What can the phrase mean if a quick trip to Wal-Mart and some duct tape yields a weapon of mass destruction? I fear that our language is deteriorating faster than our laws.