Throw the Bums OUT

A Branch of Our Government
Seems Missing in Action

Suppose you were told of a country where 90% of the members of its representative assembly have no meaningful opposition to their reelection. You would think that the country in question was a sham democracy -- not a real democracy. Totalitarian states, after all, have a history of showcase “representative assemblies.” Totalitarian leaders invariably claim that they operate by the will of the people, for the benefit of the people.

The face of totalitarianism, we know, is a smiley face. Mao paraded his happy peasants and Stalin boasted that he was building a workers’ paradise. Hitler proclaimed his love for the German people, and his concern for their welfare. It would be very poor propaganda strategy, after all, for the leaders of a totalitarian state to tell the truth.

How can the United States reconcile its claim of operating as a democracy, with these facts: 90% of House members are “safe,” from meaningful competition, yet, 77% of Americans, according to a recent poll (NY Times / CBS), say most members of the House do not deserve to be reelected? At most, there can be only a modest change in the House, regardless that a large percentage of voters feel that change is warranted.

How can we reconcile the fact that a government, that claims to be operating as a democracy, time and again, makes decisions contrary to the interests of the majority it supposedly represents?

Yes, we still take school children to the capital building in Washington DC and explain to them how ours is a representative government, designed as three independent branches of government, a system of "checks and balances." What we don’t explain is how things in Washington really work. We don’t explain about the huge amounts of money that we allow individual congressman to accept, money that slushes through the corridors of power and that transforms everything. We don't explain how one party can gain a monopoly of power and, by its actions, make a joke of "checks and balances." The reality of how our government actually works wouldn’t fit the smiley face view of our democracy that we seek to project.

What does it say that for years President Bush never disagreed with any legislation sent to him by congress by using his veto? It says that such harmony shows a Win. Win. That is, it shows that everyone in the one party wins -- and some win bigtime. And it says that one whole branch of government, as envisaged by our founding fathers, is missing in action.

Our congress has failed to operate in a way that we tell school children that it is suppose to operate. We have an ongoing fiasco in Iraq, but those who are responsible are not held accountable. There is no oversight. A whole branch of government, with constitutional obligations, a fundamental aspect of our democracy, seems missing in action.

Bob Woodward, on “60 Minutes,” said that his new book, “State of Denial,” details how the Bush administration has repeatedly and deliberately misled the public about the conduct and progress of the Iraq war. Could anyone in congress really have been surprised by Woodward's report? Hundreds of billions of dollars spent and tens of thousands of lives destroyed by pursuing our Iraq strategies, and the public must wait for a lone reporter to reveal something about the truth of the matter? Why has congress failed us so? And, in the words of Bob Dole, “Where is the outrage?”

The refusal of congress to protect the public interest -- by exercising its constitutional role of oversight concerning Iraq -- is simply one symptom, the most obvious failure, of the failure of congress to protect and advance the public good. The full details of how, under Bush and Co., the root corruption of this congress has manifested itself in selfish and self-serving actions, I believe, would be shocking, if the truth could ever be fully told.

The one party rule of Bush and Co. has revealed a huge problem: we are not acting as a democracy. Electing Democrats in this election cycle is crucial. One party control has been a disaster, and it must be changed.

I had finished writing most of this and, this morning, I read the New York Times column by Thomas Friedman. He writes: “It is so important that the Republicans lose, because if the Bush-Cheny-Rumsfield-Rice team can get away with the grotesque incompetence they have exhibited in Iraq -- a war that was not preordained to fail, but was never given a proper chance to succeed -- it makes this country look like a banana republic.”

We need to elect Democrats in this election. But electing Democrats won’t solve a root problem that needs to be addressed: our structures for democracy need revision. Maybe a constitutional amendment will be required to address this root problem. There is a collusion of power that goes beyond parties and that unites a political class in mutual self aggrandizement; it is a collusion of power that includes Democrats as well as Republicans. The 90% reality of House non-competition is wrong, regardless of which party has the upper hand. Both parties should be appalled and ashamed at the 90% fact and should work together to abolish the gerrymandering that frustrates fair and democratic competition that should be a cornerstone of our country. Both parties need to agree on ways to empower the force of average people and somehow to diminish the force of money in politics.

The facade that congressmen want to project, to school children and to all of us, is that their role is all about serving the public. Imagine that -- serving the public. Were that it so. Were that it so -- that we could have a group of representatives whose creativity and energy would be focused on promoting the public good. Were that it so -- that the actions and motivations of congress would match the propaganda we dish out to school children.

Serving the public. I’m reminded of the familiar twilight zone episode, “The Visitors.” A book brought by the visitors is found and the title is decoded. It says, “To Serve Mankind,” a phrase that verifies the visitors’ claims of friendly intentions. But as the episode ends, and the protagonist is boarding the visitors’ spaceship, the rest of the book is decoded, and, in the last scene the shout rings out, “It’s a cookbook !”

Don't you feel that we, even now, are being had for lunch -- served up by those who have debased the trust of everyone who voted for them.

So, throw the bums OUT. Throw out those who seek to "serve" us: the money grubbers, the hypocritical liars, the manipulators, the legislative worms loved by Fox News -- all who would change us into a banana republic -- OUT.

Bob Dole, and all Republicans who have fought for our democracy, this is your fight too. This is not about partisanship; its about diverting disaster. Actually Bob Dole would be perfect for a TV spot -- except for the fact that his wife is a Republican senator. So, in place of Bob, insert whatever high profile Republican in his place in the TV spot, and imagine the impact, if this high profile Republican would get on TV and say something like this: “I'm a Republican, but I need to listen to my conscience. I've been thinking how this congress has failed us all so miserably. This is not a partisan matter. We cannot allow this incompetence, this failure of congress to fullfill its constitutional role, to continue. Where is the protest? Where is the outrage? Why are there not more calls to Throw the Bums OUT?”