POLITICAL ZERO TOLERANCE

Copyright 2008,

by

Surly

Our political leaders have been of mediocre caliber for almost a third of a century. Most of them have lacked a depth of perception and human understanding that a truly great person should have to govern a leading nation. Thus we have lived with those of narrow vision who have allied themselves to narrow issues and partisan politics or else waffle and take the expedient route based on the unconsidered whims of the people. A true leader has and must take a high-minded position, to be able to persuade the people of the rightness of a new vision which will make life better for everyone, or to convince the people in difficult times that they must bear deprivation in order that conditions not be worsened. Most of all, a good leader must not care for the glories of power and personal benefits of office.

We love to hate our politicians, yet we sometimes find them useful. What would we do without them? We would have to do law - what a bore! They have privileges that are not found in law, especially not in the US Constitution, that allows them powers over us. But they are supposed to be public servants. Why are they not kissing our boots? They kiss corporate boots, instead.

It's difficult for us to think of our government as "We, the people." But that is how our Constitution defines it. However, our government seems an institution to its own. It is beholden to special interests, whether business or political groups, that greatly influence its decisions. We, the people, are manipulated by these groups and politicians. Under the influence of special interest groups, politicians have too much leeway to make decisions that affect their constituents without following their wishes. As officeholders, they have obligations, duties and responsibilities, but no rights. They seem to think otherwise. We need to remind ourselves that Senator such-and- such has no rights, but Mr. such and such has all the rights accorded to any and all citizens. It is when these rights in one person cross over to their office that problems occur. Officeholders should have more restrictions placed on their ability to act so that they can only act in the public good. There should be a set of regulations that more carefully define what politicians must do and cannot do. This way the relationship of one constituent to hir representative is upheld.

Nevertheless, we need to take back government to ourselves and become involved in it. Today, we disparage politics and politicians for their corruption, further distancing ourselves from making any effective change in our government. There is an arrogance in officeholders that makes them feel special and above the rest of us. We need to set our politicians down and make it clear to them that they are our employees - public servants, not rulers or bosses, and that they must follow our wishes. A little humility in their behavior would go a long way.

We need politicians because they should know law and be able to advise us on the best policy. We want them to be dedicated to the betterment of the nation. However, we know otherwise. Political office attracts many of the worst among us. It's about money and power instead of service to the people. We must remake politics a service, take away perks and privilege from officeholders, so that only those who sincerely want to serve the common good will be candidates.

Politicians have too much wiggle room between what they are required to do and what they must not do. As officeholders, they don't have rights, but obligations and duties. Yet, they act as if they are our superiors. Why should they have such autonomy? Rulemaking on how to do business in Congress is left to Representatives and Senators to decide. The people never had any input about how the legislature functions. Shouldn't politicians be forced to vote as their constituents choose? I think they should be confined to walking a razor's edge between these. If that's the case, why are politicians needed at all? They're a dime a dozen, but unfortunately, it's an inflated dime.

We need a zero tolerance policy for politicians. After all, criminals and students in many states are treated to zero tolerance policies even for minor infractions. Why should politicians be any different? They should be held to a higher standard. Therefore, I propose that any criminal or political infraction should be grounds for immediate removal from office and prevention of that former officeholder from holding political office at any level of government for the rest of hir life. They're easily replaceable.

Politicians are human, that's the problem. They have personal agendas, dysfunctional emotions, ideologies. Wouldn't it be better to replace them with an intelligent computer? Such an Artificial Intelligence wouldn't have emotions, personal agendas and ideologies. It could know all law and access databases far more completely and faster than any human. It would follow the law as it is, not make interpretations. It would be fair. An AI politician wouldn't be any more prone to hacking than a human. And it could be turned off.

Someday, if there's a problem, we'll simply decide to reboot the President.