Term Limits - re-re-re-revisted

I know I'm like a broken record. To my younger friends who do not remember or know what a record was - it was something upon which music was reproduced which included a round medium that spun with a needle which saddled in the groves which produced music. When it broke, the needle couldn't progress therefore it repeated the sounds of the last grove repeatedly. My apologies to the engineers, if any, who read this and accept it as completely inept.

In the Roman Republic offices were held for a period of one year. The exception was the Censor who held office traditionally for eighteen months. There were checks and balances at every turn to prohibit abuse of power. When we look at the congress of today and see the practice of elective service as a lifetime career objective, we shouldn't be surprised at the results. I believe Charlie Rangle was elected in 1954. Nearly all of the Democratic committee chairs are 20+ year veterans. At least the Republicans with all their faults had put term limits on committee chairman posts.

How would term limits ever come about. One would be the complete disintegration of the political system as we know it today. The dark ages of participatory government from which hopefully, would rise a new republic. Never say never but it is doubtful. Look at the French revolution. It resulted in more of a mess than it cured with the over throw of monarchy. This county, like many things in nature, was born in a particular time and with a particular set of circumstances. If you, like me, are Christian you will say it was God's will. It could occur by revolution. But if history is any gauge, it would only be after a despotic period where the populace would suffer terribly.

One thing is for sure. The politicians will never give it to the people freely. The only alternative I can think of is some spark that would cause a ground swell of sentiment against the system as it is. This may sound far fetched, but so would the idea that a bunch of blogger's could have grounded John Kerry's bit for the Presidency.

I do believe sincerely that this is the only salvation for the nation in any similarity of the form the founding fathers gave us. Pray for the return of reason.

Beware the Bear

Americans always want to be optimistic. We reveled in the fall of the Berlin wall and the following disintegration of the Soviet Union. We saw at least a token shift toward a free market society. We saw a country struggling to change - a country with a history of oppression spanning several hundred years - trying to enter the free world as a progressive and market centered society. There is an old saying, " the more things change the more they stay the same." From the Huns to the Czars to the Communists, there has been little freedom societally or economically in there history upon which to build.

With this background why would we be surprised at the emergence of Putin as the leader of Russia. Here is an ex-KGB czar, knowledgeable in the power structure and the means of controlling it in control of a vulnerable new governmental structure. He is welcomed - a guest of the President of the United States, chomping on barbecue at the Crawford ranch- as a friend and new ally of the U.S.

To astute observers, the scales fall from the eye and we see things that are rather disturbing. Muscle used to wrest control of the largest oil and gas corporation from its entrepreneural owner - who lands in jail. A strange poisoning of his rival in the Ukraine, almost taking him out of the picture. A defector of the KGB mystically poisoned with radioactive material. Nuclear and military technology sales to Middle
Eastern enemies of the United States. Moves toward mutual defense pacts with China and India.

By now we ought to be getting the picture. For all that this country has going for it we have a myopic view of foreign policy and the world in which we live. The world in total is a turbulent, violent and unstable place. We have our attention on the Middle East. What about Africa. The strife, violence, and civil unrest there is ignored by the mainstream press and most Americans. The ascension of dictators in Latin America are dismissed or ignored - Noriega is back, Chavez in Venezuela, and his surrogate in Bolivia. Violence in the far east, the nuclear threat from North Korea, and the constant unpredictability of China, seem to be blocked from current concern.

In this country we have the most partisan power struggle I have seen in my lifetime. This is the first I can remember where the welfare of the United States has been totally sublimated to the political quest for power. We seem to be only behind the rest of the world in the factions using guns to get their way.

Republics have a relatively poor record of survival. From Tacitus to Jefferson we've had revealed to us that virtue is what supports the survival of freedom. Rome lost it and perished. If we aren't careful we will too. If we fail to realize our perilous position in the world and confront the foriegn policy hurdles that lie in front of us, and leave the conflict of the partisans to internal affairs, we may be doomed to the ash pit of history.