Wednesday, August 24, 2005

what are we fighting for?

we are in Iraq trying to set up a democratic situation there. some of the people there like this and some hate our guts for imposing our will. the congress of the us did not declare war. they haven't since 1941. the size of the house of representatives is set at 435 members per a 1911 fed statute. this tailored the size of the body to the dimensions of the capitol building. the constitution says a rep will sit for NO FEWER THAN 30,000 people. this is important. it displays their opinion about the workings of democracy. Plato, a writer they were familiar with; whose shoulders they would readily admit they stood upon; stated that democracy worked only in small groups. the apathy shown by voters in our elections indicates two things. people are so busy and dependent on their wages they are willing to sacrifice their franchise. Also and just as important in national elections is the representation has diminished because the legislative bodies refuse to grow. the result of this policy is these elections are very manageable and predictable and a single vote seems not to matter. local issues in which numbers are crucial gain voter participation. it would take courage to face this possibility and advocate any change. the status quo involves a real opportunity risk of shoving away the responsiveness people feel they want from their government; that we were taught in elementary school was our heritage. but in these past decades with the assassinations, Watergate. budget deficits. exponential debt. undeclared and futile wars. it seems it is impossible to reclaim the quality of democratic solution to our problems. i believe if the number in the house was raised to the level the constitution called for the power would be restored to congress and representational democracy would experience a resurrection. finance reform would be meaningless if the very nature of the odds in any election were beyond buying off.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

what are we fighting for?

BRIGHTMOOR JOURNAL

TWO of the issues I really care about are the size of congress and the manner we vote, the brevity of it.

The Constitution states a house member would represent no fewer than 30,000 people. A 1920's federal law fixes the size of the house to not outgrow the Capitol Building. When billions are spent to build ballparks and hockey rinks inPhoenix; I think we ought to house a representative body the framers devised. The elections would be harder to control and congress might get less pork barrel accomplished but that's a good thing.

We need a three day weekend to vote.

what are we fighting for?

BRIGHTMOOR JOURNAL august 16, 2005

Cindy Sheehan is a brave lady. She is protesting the war in Iraq. I respect her.

President Kennedy once noted that the chinese symbol for crisis is made of two characters, one denoting disaster the other opportunity.

People who call this a volunteer military do not recognize economic reality. And just because you join the military does not need you ought to be fodder for military adventure. You can't get into a mess like South VietNam or Iraq without the intention of making a de facto 51st state. Otherwise you admit to the proposition we are simply there for an undetermined period of time sacrificing our youth and killing people. The horrors of life under Saddam are right up there with the atrocities common in history. What can we do to insure that a strongman won't take over as soon as we leave the desert? We can't.

Ending the VietNam era draft was in part done because it had become a farce with so many loopholes for the priviledged that it resembled the tax code. Not having anything like the WPA, the CCC or any economically viable alternative to the military it is not surprising to see the socio-economic profile of the enlisted ranks to be quite the same as it was in the draft. That is why people who opine that these volunteers know what they are getting into and David Horowitz seems to think they get what they deserve is elitist calumny. They should swallow their tongues.