policy changes - thinking beyond the politics of scandal

[welshTerrier2]

there's an editorial in today's NY Times that opens with the following paragraph about the Foley scandal:

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/opinion/03tue1.html

History suggests that once a political party achieves sweeping power, it will only be a matter of time before the power becomes the entire point. Policy, ideology, ethics all gradually fall away, replaced by a political machine that exists to win elections and dispense the goodies that come as a result. The only surprise in Washington now is that the Congressional Republicans managed to reach that point of decayed purpose so thoroughly, so fast.

The Times editorial staff was, of course, mirroring the famous quote from British scholar Lord Acton who said:

"Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end...liberty is the only object which benefits all alike, and provokes no sincere opposition...The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to to govern. Every class is unfit to govern...Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

there it is ... absolute power corrupts absolutely ... it sees in each of us, or in the institutions we build, an inherent human flaw ... while we may enter the halls of power innocent and ideological, we cannot remain that way ...

but is this true? do you see yourself that way? do you believe that, whatever your beliefs, the trappings of power would soon corrupt you? i'm sure few if any of today's legislators, republican or Democrat, would have answered "yes" before they took office? still, i just do NOT see myself that way ... do you? Lord Acton's view leaves us with very little hope if it's true ... are there no noble people among us who seek power to save the weakest among us and serve the common good and who will remain true to that mission?

i hate Lord Acton's cynicism ... i would not involve myself in political causes or perhaps even political discourse if i agreed with him ... representative forms of governance must at least leave us with the hope (the illusion?) that we can elect good and honest people to remain true to the interests and goals on which they campaign ...

and consider this, what sort of governance do we have that leaves an essentially one party government in total control of investigating and administering justice to one of their own? how many other Foley's have been covered up?

Lord Acton has another famous quote on the subject:

source: http://www.libertystory.net/LSTHINKACTON.html

"I exhort you never to debase the moral currency or to lower the standard of rectitude, but to try others by the final maxim that governs your own lives, and to suffer no man and no cause to escape the undying penalty which history has the power to inflict on wrong."

Democrats need to push through changes in the Congress when they return to power ... the current Congressional rules give subpoena power only to the majority party ... this rule does not serve the best interests of the American people ... it is a "fox guarding the chicken coop" rule and it should be eliminated ... the problem is, the party in power never wants to give the opposition party this much power ... the minority party should be able to call hearings and should have subpoena power!! i hope Democrats remember this when they regain control ... they won't, of course and that is a disservice to all of us ...

if we are to "try others by the final maxim that governs our own lives", we must have the legal authority to do so ... and the same is true for Lord Acton's warning that we should "suffer no man and no cause to escape the undying penalty which history has the power to inflict on the wrong."

it's time to give the power to call hearings and issue subpoenas to the minority party ... instead, today, we have republicans investigating themselves ...

[spag68]

1. TERM LIMITS

[welshTerrier2]

2. interesting ...

i almost added a paragraph on term limits to my post ...

the problem i have with term limits is that they target both good and bad elected officials without making any distinction ...

[DeeDeeNY]

3. This is the problem with one-party rule

It's hard to go along with the full cynicism in that first quote
from Lord Acton. But it all depends on the reason why someone goes into public service in the first place -- is it to help serve the people of this country, or maybe just to get power, perks and money. They are supposed to be there serving us, and once they lose sight of that, it's downhill quickly.