I've actually been giving this quite a bit of thought overnight. At my age, thoughtful moments tend to pass quickly, so I'd better write this down before my dementia kicks in.
Imagine the life is like a game of football. The role of government is to establish where the end zones and sidelines are - the parameters of the field of play as it were. Within those parameters, there are certain rules of play. You are not allowed to gouge out the eyes of opponents or break their arms, for instance. Nor are you allowed to unduly impede their progress.
The referees ARE the government on the field. They are supposed to be unbiased and impartial, giving every player an equal chance to succeed within the rules.
The problem comes when some of the wealthier players decide to influence the referees with gifts of money, trips to exotic locations, dalliances with willing ladies, or certain recreational drugs to enhance their mental state. Suddenly, the notion of neutrality is violated, so that SOME of the players are allowed to take gross liberties with the rules without being penalized. The other players soon find themselves on the short end of every final score.
These other players have several choices. They can outbid their rivals for the favor of the referees. They can try to draw the attention of the spectators to the unfair goings on. They can unite to beat the crap out of their opponents AND the officials. Or they can withdraw from the field of play and take their game to a new location.
Like all analogies, this one can be stretched too and beyond the breaking point. But just this week, we have seen a classic example of the abuse of power and what happens when the elaborate system of checks and balances is overridden by one means or another.
Sometime ago, the US Congress, while passing an extension of the PATRIOT ACT, approved a one paragraph change that allowed the President to appoint successors to US attorneys who left office and not get Senate approval for the replacements. Voila! The role of Senate confirmation is precisely one of those devices created by the writers of the Constitution to offset the well known human foible of every human being ever born to acquire power in any way possible. By eliminating that one little part of the escapement in the grand design of government, men seeking power did just that and booted a bunch of US attorney type people out the door. The message to every OTHER US attorney, of course, is do it our way or we will punish you too!
As Charles Schumer said yesterday (and I paraphrase) "The problem Mr. Gonzalez has is that he does not understand that he is no longer the President's personal attorney. He is now the Attorney General of the United States and his obligation is to all the people of the country, not just to the President.
This administration has played this to the hilt, from imposing party apparatchik's on NPR and CPB, NASA, FEMA, the CIA and right on down the line. In Bush's America, ALL government employees work directly for the President and must kowtow to his dictates or face loss of their jobs/careers and NO government employees are permitted to do the PEOPLE'S business. Our government has co-opted ALL the officials and has become a runaway train. Unfortunately, like Casey Jones at the throttle, the ultimate result is inevitable - total wreckage of the train and the railroad.
Without neutral, non-partisan referees, the game is lost. And in the end, those who see themselves as the winners, are the biggest losers of all.
At least that's how things look from the perspective of Chepachet RI this wintry Friday. Which begs the question: how will America respond to the unholy alliance between the referees and the most powerful players?
