Caligula[1]
keeps appearing in my mind, every time I have to observe the Trump doing
something asinine, well doing anything actually. We briefly stopped in to see our
granddaughter the other day, and I asked her whether she had ever heard of The
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire[2].
Because, I said, we may be witnessing the same thing here, the Decline and Fall
of the American Empire. And, I told her, I expected, when she turned 18, she
and her brothers would have to begin rescuing our once great nation from the
dismal state into which it has fallen. She was fascinated by the comparison,
but declined the honor of assuming responsibility for our rescue. She thought,
since we messed it up, it would be up to us to solve the problem(s). Seems fair, actually.
But, then we have Caligula.
Our Caligula has been either playing golf, or speechifying at some
campaign rally full time, ever since he was elected . . . that is, when he isn’t
making love to some brutal dictator, like Kim. I keep wondering what his “Days
in Washington v. Days Elsewhere” ratio is, if compared with any other
president. But, we should have known
this was coming. He really is just an amateur entertainer playing at being
President, with heavy stress on the term “amateur”.
I keep wondering whether, now, we have so lowered the bar,
that we have effectively eliminated any notion of qualifications for the post
of American President. Remember the Clown Car in the circus? Would we care any
longer if one of the clowns got out of the Clown Car and announced that he was
now president of the United States? Would we cheer and yell, MAGA???
The Kavanaugh hearings, with McConnell grumbling nasty
things, and the idiot from South Carolina yelling about how we the people had
carried out such a foul attack on this wonderful man that we were guilty of crimes against humanity. This from Mitch,
who denied Mr. Garland even the opportunity of a hearing. Mitch, you and your kind are the disgrace.
That hearing, resulting in the appointment of a second sexual
pervert to the High Court, now completes the work of the republican government.
They have now corrupted the Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court.
But how are we to recover from this onslaught of thoroughly
corrupt, indecent pseudo-humans, who now occupy our government? Well, yes, VOTING is the first and best step
towards that end. But what comes next? What is wrong with our Nation, or
perhaps just our Government, that we can produce such a corrupted result?
Well, it would seem that we need to proceed systematically
to begin unraveling the systems by which we have become this corrupt.
1 1. Money: first things first. Money may indeed be
the root of all evil. But, at a minimum, we need to get big money out of
politics. They say power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But
I think it is money that corrupts and “absolute” money that corrupts
absolutely. So, we need to elect a Congress and President that will take on
Citizens United directly, and find some way to get that kind of money out of
our system of government. Maybe we need
a system under which all political financing is public, and no other funds are
allowed.
2 2. Term Limits: we have term limits for the
Presidency. Maybe these “lifetime” appointments to the Supremes needs
rethinking. I know there are advantages
to the lifetime thing—it theoretically frees the justices from the petty
partisan political thing, but we now have evidence that our Supremes are
definitely not free of partisanship –see Tony Scalia, and now see Brett Kavanaugh. Then, perhaps we need to consider term limits
to the House and Senate. Maybe three terms for the House and two terms for the
Senate should be it. Then let these
folks go back to real jobs.
3 3. Gerrymandering: I have thought for some time
that we need an independent body to design and then create voting districts
that are independent of partisan advantaging. I am not sure how to create such
districts, although I am certain that it is technically possible, and that the
political parties –neither one—will ever be capable of creating such
independent districts. So, first we
create the independent body (or bodies) and then we set them to work creating
the districts. Perhaps we will need a constitutional amendment to support such
work, but it would be worthwhile. Otherwise, we are doomed to the eventual Decline
and Fall of the American Empire. And say Hi to Caligula should you see him on some golf course.
[1] Caligula (/kəˈlɪɡjʊlə/;[1] Latin: Gaius
Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus; 31 August 12 – 24 January 41
AD) was Roman emperor from AD 37 to AD 41. The son
of the popular Roman general Germanicus and Augustus'
granddaughter Agrippina the Elder, Caligula was
born into the first ruling family of the Roman Empire,
conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Germanicus' uncle and
adoptive father, Tiberius, succeeded Augustus as emperor of Rome in AD 14. There
are few surviving sources about the reign of Caligula, although he is
described as a noble and moderate emperor during the first six months of his
rule. After this, the sources focus upon his cruelty, sadism, extravagance, and
sexual perversion, presenting him as an insane tyrant.
While the reliability of these sources is questionable, it is known that during
his brief reign, Caligula worked to increase the unconstrained
personal power of the emperor, as opposed to countervailing powers within
the principate.
He directed much of his attention to ambitious construction projects and
luxurious dwellings for himself, and initiated the construction of two aqueducts in
Rome: the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus.
During his reign, the empire annexed the client kingdom of Mauretania as
a province. In early AD
41, Caligula was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy by officers
of the Praetorian Guard, senators,
and courtiers.
[2] The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire[a] is a
six-volume work by the English historian Edward Gibbon
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