Taboo Plaza

We talk a lot about democracy in this country.  We've argued for spreading democracy around the globe.  We've celebrated our own democratic institutions. 

We, however, do not live in a democracy.

We live in a republic.  And there is a difference.  A republic is democracy for people who don't really trust people.  It's better than a tyranny and that's why it's there.  A republic, for all of its positives, is not democracy.

So how do we get to democracy?  Better yet, do we want to?  If we don't, let's get out the reasons in public and have a vigorous debate on the issue.  Let's discuss and put the reasons before the public for judgment. 

The powers of the Constitution, after all, do protest to reside in the body of the people.

I guess the first step is figuring out whether or not we want to live in a democracy.  If the answer is no, we've losted nothing.  If the answer is yes, then we start to think about what that could look like.  We make a plan. 

Together, because that's the only way being together in the world will work. 

And there it went.  Now I'm starting to sound like a hippie. 
Why can't we just do it together, man? 
There is one other thing though. 
If we choose that we don't want a democracy, then we really need to stop using the word democracy. 

If you choose 'No' then proudly sing the virtues of Our Republic. 

There's no shame in that. 

Just stop calling the Republic a Democracy.

Current Affairs

Two interesting developments took place in the political arena over the last week. 

One, Americans are reacting to President-elect Obama's Cabinet picks.  According to Fox News, more than half of Americans think Obama is making the right choices for his future administration.  Fox's poll suggests a lot of support for Barack Obama and high expectations for his administration.  On the other side of that coin, some Americans are questioning the conservative nature of Obama's Cabinet.

It seems these types of stories highlight a lacking area of democracy in the United States of America.  The president gets elected (kind of) by the citizens (if you ignore the whole electoral college structure.)  The president after being elected creates the rest of the executive branch with little input from the people. 

This is not a problem unique to Barack Obama and this is not commentary regarding his picks for his administration.  He is simply doing what has been done before him.

My observation about 'lacking democracy' is regarding a systemic issue that could easily be corrected by following the model of public school government elections.  Let each person run separately in front of the people for the Cabinet post they would like.  Let democracy flourish just a little more.  If someone wants to be the Treasury Secretary, why not have them voted into office by the people of America. 

Sure it would require amending the Constitution, but it would also be a move in the right direction if we want to promote our democracy to the world.

The second interesting political development surrounds Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

We can debate this issue all day, but this issue highlights the corrupting nature of money.  Not only can Blagojevich's actions be attributed to greed for money, but the more disheartening issue here is how money makes the antithetical possible.  The next Senator in Illinois should be the most qualified person, whether qualified indicates: smartest, fastest or most savy. 

Blagojevich has boiled the issue down to who has the most dough.

If he has his way, the ignorant will reign supreme over the more capable simply because the less qualified individual has more monetary resources available to buy a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Remembering W

 From a press conference on 9/10/2003:

"Question from Dick <not sure Dick who>- Mr. President, the $87 billion you say will be needed for peacekeeping in Iraq accounts for roughly a fifth of the domestic discretionary spending next year.  Realistically, sir, how can you do that and hold the line on domestic programs, without gutting those programs?  Can you really have one—"

Answer from soon-to-be-former-President W- "Of course, we can do— first of all, the $87 billion, it's important to spend that money.  It's in our national interest that we spend it.  A free and peaceful Iraq will save this country money in the long term.  It's important to get it done now.  And, yes, I also believe the 4% discretionary— increase in discretionary spending number I sent up to Congress makes sense.  Somebody— I heard somebody say, well, what we need to do is have a tax increase to pay for this.  That's an absurd notion.  You don't raise taxes when an economy is recovering.  Matter of fact, lower taxes will help enhance economic recovery.  We want our people going back to work.  We've got good momentum now in our economy; we don't want to destroy that momentum.  But the $87 billion is worth it.  And I look forward to working with Congress to get that number completed and get the job done."

There wasn't any great uproar over any of this false conservative ideology while W was pushing it down American throats.  In fact, Fox News reported- in June 2004- over half of Americans thought W was right in spending more money than we had so we could continue to do our thing in Iraq.  One way or another, it seems, W got his money for Iraq and who really knows what happened to that money.

Interestingly enough, Iraq was estimated in August 2008 to be working on amassing a $79 billion surplus by year's end.  In the end, I just hope I'm around when people want to start romanticizing W's years in office.


From a Joint Statement with the Republic of Indonesia (10/22/2003):

"President Bush announced a new six-year, $157 million program to support Indonesia's efforts to improve the quality of education in its schools."

This guy just loved to spend money.  No project was too random to pull money out of the public coffers for W.


From a press conference announcing Alphonso Jackson's nomination for HUD Secretary (12/12/2003):

Reporter: "Mr. President, the dollar fell again today, against the euro.  Mr. Snow, your Treasury Secretary says that the decline has been orderly, boosting exports.  Do you plan any intervention to stop the slide in the dollar?"

W: "My answer to that question about the dollar is that this government is for a strong dollar, and that the dollar's value ought to be set by the market and by the conditions inherent in our respective economies.  And our economy is strong and is getting stronger.  But the policy, the stated policy- and not only the stated policy, but the strong belief of this administration is that we have a strong dollar.  Well, listen, thank you all.  Alphonso, congratulations."

I'm not going to miss Bush ducking and dodging questions.

Memory Lane

 Tis the season right? 

My wife and I go to her company Christmas party last weekend.  Her and I have been together for quite some time at this point and we've firmly established that if anyone gets so drunk they can't walk- it's me!  Not that I demand that type of thing from my wife, it's just kind of the way things generally work out.

She's generally more mature than I am.

Being immature myself, when my wife disappeared for an hour I started thinking the worst with no real reason to think it other than she left the party an hour ago and I haven't seen her since.  So my mind starts running. 

She's f*cking around on me.
That's the only thing it can be.
She left over an hour ago.
She hasn't answered five text messages.
She's f*cking around me.

I'm the immature one right?  I admit that.  She has a better composure in public.  I'm the slob.  I'm the one that can't keep from drinking too much and running his mouth.  Running her mouth isn't in the definition of the statement by historical fact.

She's gone though.
She's not responding to text messages.
I've left her a really nasty one by the fifth message.
Nothing.  No response at all.
She's gone.

Where is she, is all that runs through my mind at this point.  My mood is increasingly pissed off.  I have no real reason to believe she would be with someone else.  She's never really done anything before to indicate such a thing, but that just doesn't help what's running through my mind.  She's f*cking around on me and she waits to bring me to some lame ass Christmas party to do it for the first time.

What a sh*tty thing to do to someone.
If you're going to f*ck around have the goddamn decency to pull up a comfy chair for them first.
Let them know about it.
Unless you really hate them. 
Then their mental anguish will drive them insane.
If they feel anything at all.

So all of these thoughts are running through my head.  Now I have to ask someone I don't know: "Do you know where my wife is?"  I look like the asshole now.  'Hey did you see the guy walking around the party asking, "Do you know where my wife is?"  I'm the one doing it though.  I'm that guy and nobody knows where she's at.  They haven't seen her, including the hosts of the party because I've asked.  They don't know I'm playing my ace in the hole close to my vest.  I saw her leave an hour ago and I know who she left with.  It was another girl.  The hostess of the party as a matter of fact, so I figure they went up to her apartment.

I see the hostess at the party an hour after she left the party with my wife.  Now the hostess is at the party again without my wife.  So I ask her.  "Do you know where my wife is?"  The hostess' response is odd.  It seems a bit rehearsed.  Or fake.  Or planned, because I do feel like an asshole asking the question now.  At least the other people at the party didn't make me feel like I was an asshole asking the question. 

But the  hostess just kind of gives me this blank type of stare.  She looks amused.

Her look is a f*ck you to me.  That makes me think, either she's in on my wife f*cking around on me or she's just a bitch.  The hostess says, "Why no.  The last I heard she was going to this little bar down the street.  Did she leave without you?"  She's kind of smiling at this point.  I'm pissed and a little inebriated.  The hostess says, "Let me go check if she's in our apartment.  She was up there earlier.  I'll be right back."

We were going to that bar with some other people from the party.  Now, not only do I have the possibility of my wife f*cking around on me.  She might have also decided to ditch me at her company Christmas party to go up to the bar with some people from the party. 

Wow!

I'm steaming and there's no possiblity for me to go up to the apartment where they live.  It's a nice fancy building.  Real expensive to live there.  Door man and what not.  Locked elevators and this ain't New York or Chicago.  I couldn't get up there if I wanted. 

The hostess comes back.  "Sorry she's not up there.  Are you sure she didn't go to that bar?  I saw her leave and she said she was going up there."  I meet the hostess' amused glare.  She's just looking back at me like I'm a dick, because my wife left the party an hour ago and hasn't been seen since.  Now I'm starting to worry a little, but I'm still pissed because I'm still a little inebriated.

The hostess says it again.  "Are you sure she didn't go up to the bar?"  And that sets me off.  Now I'm totally pissed and ready to lose my mind.  I have to drive by the bar to get home though.  My wife's car is still at the party because the valet gives me the keys.  I don't know what to think.  I want to think, 'I'm going home.'  Because I'm pissed.  I also stop to think just a bit in the back of my head that something might have happened to my wife, so now I'm a little worried as well.

I start driving home but stop at the bar first anyway.  In the bar are the people we were going to meet.  I ask them if they've seen her and they say no.  They're confused which leads to me being more confused and pissed.  The conversation doesn't go well because I'm still a little inebriated.  I leave the bar and I'm pissed, but now I'm not sure who I'm pissed at.

I drive back to the Christmas party and everything looks pretty well shut down, but the doorman recognizes me and lets me into the building.  I go into the party and ask the hostess one more time if she's seen my wife. 

"I saw her leave with you at 10:21.  You were the last person I saw her with.  I went to that bar and she never showed up there.  Have you seen my wife?  Do you know if she left with someone?  When did she leave your apartment?  Is it possible she's still in your apartment?"

"Let me go check again."  The hostess is going to go check again.  She's gone by the time I ask her husband, "Do you mind if I go up there as well?"  He says, "See if you can catch her before she gets to the elevators."  I run and she's already gone.  I go back and her servant (they've got that kind of scratch- they've got a servant) says, "Let me call the hostess and see if it's okay for you to go up."  He calls and he's talking to the hostess quietly into the phone.  I hear an affirmation in his tone, but he's still talking quietly.  I have to ask when he hangs up.  "Is my wife up there?"

"Promise you won't be mad."  And all I can think is what the fuck does that mean?  Promise I won't be mad.  I feel like I've been through hell and a half acre.  Promise I won't be mad.  It's a little too fucking late for that, but he keeps repeating it.  I tell him whatever, I just want to get my wife and leave.

He takes me up to his master's apartment.  When I get up to their apartment, I find my wife huddled on the floor GONE.  She's completely non-responsive.  I've never seen her like this before.  She's out cold huddled into the smallest, oddest looking ball I've ever seen anyone in.  I say her name loudly and I get no response.  I tell her to get up so we can leave and she doesn't move at all.

It's just me, the hostess, her man-servant and my wife swallowed inside her boss' apartment.  I tell my wife to get up again and I get no response from her still.  She doesn't move.  She doesn't say anything.  She's just curled into a tiny ball.

My wife can drink too.  I've seen her.  This evening she's only had two to three glasses of wine- from what I've seen.  I lean over to pick her up under her armpits and nobody tries to help me.  In fact, the hostess starts getting loud with me because apparently she doesn't like how I'm talking to my wife.  I don't like her hosting skills.  I don't know what's happened, but as I pull my wife to her feet I can smell vomit.  I'm talking to her the whole time and she still is not responding to questions.  I start using a gruff, commanding voice with her, because we're getting out of this place and her legs are spaghetti. 

If I were to let go of my wife, she would fall to the floor.

The hostess starts telling me I'm an asshole as I get my wife's arm over my shoulder and I support her to walk out of the apartment.  We are going home now!  I'm trying to talk my wife through the walk, because she feels like she might collapse at any moment.  Behind us, the hostess is mocking me.  I tell my wife to lean on me.  I hear the mocking behind me.

"That's right.  Just lean on me."

I don't know what the hell happened that night, but I know that is not a way to treat a guest in your home.  The hostess is a bitch and my boss' wife is married to her.  I'm not exactly sure what that makes him, but I'll err on the conservative side and say it at least makes him a bad host. 

My wife slept for the next 12 to 14 hours.  She remained pretty well emotionless for two to three days.  Her muscles ache and she's had short term memory issues.  Her kidneys hurt three days later.

Just a little advice from this incident.  Never leave your drink unattended.

Merry Christmas.

Belly Laugh

I love Willie Nelson and Stephen Colbert, but if they were ever to war with one another- my loyalty goes to Willie.  Sorry Stephen.