The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Richard Day's picture

    THE GUARDIANS

    File:Plato-raphael.jpg

    PLATONIC OR MORONIC?

    Why, that all those mercenary individuals, whom the many call Sophists and whom they deem to be their adversaries, do, in fact, teach nothing but the opinion of the many, that is to say, the opinions of their assemblies; and this is their wisdom.

    http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.7.vi.html

    We now have legislation that has been passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the Prez so that my SS check for $674.00 will be duly deposited in my free checking account.

    The entire piece of legislation is much more complicated than I could ever surmise or relate. Others who would merely imitate Icarus are not at a loss for words so why should my opinion matter anyway?

    My interest revolves around this Super Committee!

    I am not willing to discuss the ins and outs of this legislation. I have not read the entire file. But this Super Committee intrigued me greatly.

    The legal memos reported from the pundit while read on a visual aide do not intrigue me at all. McConnell might continue his obstructionist ways in order to dissolve this Presidency after Boehner has screwed 90% of the public pursuant to some chess game contained in the legislation as well as the chess games already in place in both houses of Congress.

    I don't care anymore.

    But I am intrigued by a concept described by a Greek almost 2400 years ago. I think we are looking at a challenge to democracy (small d, however all dems are small d's anyhow) and our Republic.

    Now everybody already knows that:

    The rich 'control' both houses of Congress through bribes; direct or otherwise. You might find some senator's niece appointed to some corporate board. You might find some corporate contributions to some representative's campaign coffers. You might find that some Congressman's business is doing unusually well following a six month period following some recently signed legislation, or here rollcall.

    So what's new?

    Now everybody knows that:

    Some representative might use his knowledge of pending legislation to improve his stock portfolio.

    So what's new?

    Now everybody knows that:

    Legal advice and counsel and representation might await some Congressman's litigious difficulties provided at a 'lower rate'.

    Now everybody knows that:

    A Congressman might be more interested in funds leading to construction of a bridge that will service only a few in his state and pay countless millions to some bridge builder who might aid in that Congressman's campaign.

    And everybody knows that:

    Our Representatives are hypocrites!

    So everybody knows a lot and everybody knows shite!

    Well Plato proposed that people should be governed by Guardians! As well as a philosopher king running the state.

     

    ...If then we adhere to our original notion and bear in mind that our guardians, setting aside every other business, are to dedicate themselves wholly to the maintenance of freedom in the State, making this their craft, and engaging in no work which does not bear on this end, they ought not to practice or imitate anything else; if they imitate at all, they should imitate from youth upward only those characters which are suitable to their profession --the courageous, temperate, holy, free, and the like; but they should not depict or be skilful at imitating any kind of illiberality or baseness, lest from imitation they should come to be what they imitate. Did you never observe how imitations, beginning in early youth and continuing far into life, at length grow into habits and become a second nature, affecting body, voice, and mind?
    http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.4.iii.html

    I mean this has to be a great idea, does it not?

    I mean we could be better served by individuals who are numb; numb to profit, numb to personal allegiances, numb to bribes and extortion...

    So we currently have 535 legislators; a hundred of which reside in the Upper House. And it is so difficult to find a consensus, since all of our citizens see the universe in a narrow manner.

    And we will now have the worst of all possible worlds!

    Twelve Guardians shall be selected from our elected officials; these officials shall be subject to all the problems of the rest of our elected representatives.

    And we might predict that the repubs will vote upon party lines.

    REPUB OR NOT, all those twelve will be suckling off of the corporate teet!

     

    Comments

    Today, or tonight I am giving you the award for the best line of the day..

    Others who would merely imitate Icarus are not at a loss for words

    That sir, is the best line I've read all day long. I smiled and laughed... well done.

    Also... nice blog Dickon

    t.


    Well thank ye.

    Much appreciated!


    For me, what jumped out was not the Super Congressional conclave of colossally cacophonous corporate capitalist congress-people ... but that it only takes 7 out of 12 votes to move ideas to a vote in Congress.  So basically the Republican 6, that are set in stone,  have to only convince one (1!) blue-dog Democrat to come to their side and Democrats lose everything ... again.  


    Yeah, I came to the same damn conclusion.

    Six dogfighters and six Democratic politicians.

    Maybe we have entered into a new era!

    THE SIX PLUS ONE ERA! ha


    I am trying...trying...to find comfort in the harsh "trigger" feature built into the deal. Neither side likes what will happen if they can't make a deal.

    And, while it's true that the Republicans only need one Blue Dog Dem to reach 7, it's also true the Democrats only need one normal Repub to see it their way. (Obviously, I have not sought a cure for my optimism.)

    Would it be too much to ask if one of the Repubs came from Maine? Or even that feller from Massachussetts?

    Wouldn't it have been great if there had been enough time left in order for the American people themselves to choose the Mighty 12 by casting votes? I reckon that would have drawn the voters to the polls.

    Which begs the question: Why can't we have a direct vote at the federal level on something like this? Or several other things, like HCR or legalizing pot? I mean, what use are all those polls asking for public opinion if the most popular opinion is then ignored? With poll after poll indicating that a majority of the U.S. citizens feel the country is "headed in the wrong direction", why then, are our elected officials not responding to the majority?

    For gawd's sake, what was the Supreme Court smoking that day they allowed corporate personhood a seat at the table?

    And finally, is there any direction these thoughts of mine haven't traveled in this morning?


    Like I do not have seventeen visions in my head at any one time. hahahaha

    Our government was originally set up to keep the voter as far away from governing on the Federal level as possible.

    Although the Civil War changed a lot of this, you must admit that it is difficult for 310 million people to chime in on an issue.

    I was just struck with the 'model' being created.

    The idea was--I think--to cut through some of the protocols in the Senate so that certain matters can get to the floor for a vote!

    It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I am interested in seeing how Congress handles this.


    For a little while (in the scale of millenniums), Athens had a democracy where all citizens were required to participate. They were punished if they didn't do their fair share of the work of governance. Measured against this standard, the polity of our republic was designed from the get-go to subcontract most of that work out to hopefully capable people.

    When first constituted, the selection process of those people expressed the will of citizens through a series of strong links between each of the levels of representation, from community governance to decisions made on the Federal level. While history has shown that those kinds of links have their own styles of tyranny, the intention of the design was to thwart the power of partisan elements that naturally tend to dominate a State. Only the active presence of a countervailing force can mitigate the effects of this natural tendency.

    Anyway, having a bicameral body create a second bicameral body to somehow circumvent partisan dynamics is like the shot of whisky one might take to stop the shakes before getting to a job site. I think Aristotle called it infinite regression.


    I have discussed this subject many times and as Tocqueville demonstrates, Athens had 350,000 residents and about 20,000 citizens. About the same proportion of Communist Party members to populations of the old USSR and China.

    The perfect proportion for Republican politics. ha!

    If i were a youngster, I would have just become involved in local village politics. Screw the rest. It is all fixed.