Radical Avenue

Hillary Clinton loves to talk about how her “experience” makes her more qualified to be president than the other Democratic candidates. What “experience” is she referring to? Is she talking about telling her husband what to do as first lady? Other than that, her life in public service consists of two terms in the US Senate. Barack Obama has more experience as an elected official than Hillary.

Hillary Clinton is a phony. Everything she says is poll driven and contrived. When asked about her 2002 decision to give George W. Bush carte blanche in Iraq, she says if she had known then what she knows now, she would have never voted in favor of the resolution. But as a member of the Senate Armed Services committee, she had every opportunity to determine that Iraq posed no immediate threat to the United States prior to our invasion. And if she didn’t realize that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were determined to send our troops into Iraq come hell or high water, then she is an extraordinarily poor judge of character. She voted in favor of the resolution for purely political reasons.

“If I had known then what I know now…” Give me a break. That’s like a drunk saying “Had I known that I would crash my car into a telephone pole last night, I would have never driven home from the bar.” America needs forthright leadership in Washington for a change, not more chicanery.

Hillary, Hillary Clinton, experience, democrats, Iraq resolution, democratic primary

We learn to keep our eyes on the road in drivers’ education class. This of course, is not meant to be taken literally. Safe drivers must also monitor traffic control devices, like signs and flashing lights. Failure to obey signs that say Stop, Yield and Merge can lead to accidents and citations.

Other signs along the side of the road are purely informational. We can ignore them completely and suffer no consequences. We may also disregard billboards because they serve a purely commercial purpose.

Since I ignore the Exit 21 sign when I drive by it every day on the freeway, I wouldn’t care if that sign had other information that I could also ignore. Of course the sign would still need to clearly identify Exit 21 for anyone looking to leave the freeway at that point. But if companies could buy advertising space on road signs, it would give them a new opportunity to reach potential customers. Exit 21: Did you know that the new McTasty McSalad has only 21 calories?

road signs, infrastructure repair, traffic control, freeway signs, public financing

While city planners around the country are busy creating more livable space in America’s downtowns, developers are headed in the other direction. They’re building massive office complexes out in the suburbs where the air is clean and the land is cheap. To accommodate the big spenders, county governments pave over farmland in order to build new roads with fun names like Mercantile Drive and Industrial Boulevard. These roads should all be called Taxpayer Street since we’re the ones paying for them. Sprawl, it’s the American Way.

Governments should sell road names to the highest bidder. If Acme Corporation wants to build a work center and expects to receive a new road in return, then the local government should say: “You want a new road? You pay for it. Then you can name it whatever you like.” Before long Acme employees will be taking Acme Boulevard to get to Acme headquarters every day.

I’m guessing Pepsico ® would pay a nice sum for the rights to name a road running past the headquarters of Coca Cola ®. For once taxpayers could benefit from marketplace dynamics. Competition, it’s also the American Way.

infrastructure, roads, street names, public financing, taxes, infrastructure repair

Businesses have long profited from dressing up ordinary commodities in fancy packaging. General Motors beat the competition by offering cars in a variety of colors and styles while Ford was still featuring basic black. American consumers need an enticement to open their wallets. They want to enjoy fulfilling their basic needs and take pride in following the latest trends.

Private organizations understand consumers and are busy plastering their industrial artwork everywhere in sight. We see the logo and we recognize the company. Pushy ducks, talking insects and smiling tigers speak for corporate America these days. Businesses obviously want to advertise in spots thousands of us pass by every morning on the way to work.

American drivers have grown intimately familiar with the stodgy, monochrome signposts that announce travel distances to towns up ahead on the road. Our taxes pay for these signs while farmers sell billboard space on the other side of the ditch. Selling ad space on mileage signs would help offset the cost of their purchase and maintenance. Drivers benefit from the travel information. Businesses benefit from the exposure. And taxpayers from across the state benefit as well. They no longer need to finance the upkeep of signs they never see.

If governments operated more like private entities, we would also sell naming rights to bridges and freeways. Why not call it the Poulon ® Weedwacker Bay Bridge if it costs less to get across?

roads, taxes, public financing, bridges, streets, infrastructure, road repair, bridge repair

Governments traditionally use taxes on income and property to fund public services. This creates a disincentive for people to earn a high salary or accumulate assets. So wealthy citizens hire accountants to shelter investments in foreign countries and the rest of us pay taxes at the retail price.

Americans understand the benefits of smooth roads, clean water and safe neighborhoods. They just want a better return on their public revenue investment. Our governments have a variety of assets at their disposal. They should use those assets to pursue innovative ways of raising money the way private companies do.

The recent catastrophic bridge collapse in Minnesota has highlighted the need for infrastructure repair in our country. Much of the discussion over how to pay for this revolves around tax increases. Minnesota should instead explore ways to use the bridge itself to raise money. How many people do you suppose have gotten stuck in traffic on that bridge over the years before it collapsed? Thousands of bored commuters, with nothing to do but stare at the railing, hmm…

taxes, public financing, income tax, property tax, public revenue, Minnesota, infrastructure, bridge collapse, infrastructure repair

One good thing about the retail politicking presidential candidates have to go through in Iowa and New Hampshire is that it requires them to address tough questions that no paid journalist would ever have the temerity to ask. The answers can be quite revealing. When Mitt Romney was forced to explain why none of his five sons were serving their country in Iraq, he responded “Well, the good news is that we have a volunteer army and that’s the way we’re going to keep it.”

Good news indeed. If we had a draft, the blue blooded children of the elite might end up on the front lines next to poor kids from the hood. Romney knows that Iraq is hell right now. Of course he doesn’t want his kids getting their heads blown off by roadside bombs in the middle of a desert wasteland. Millions of American parents feel the same way. Unfortunately Romney will never come clean and admit that the war was a disastrous mistake. That’s because he puts party loyalty and his own ambitions above candor and the need for accountability in public life.

John McCain may also be misguided when it comes to Iraq, but at least you can respect his point of view. He has earned the right to talk about sending American troops into battle. He’s been there and done that. McCain is still a public servant and hasn’t joined the permanent ruling class, unlike so many of his colleagues.

Perhaps the lower caste types should henceforth use a more deferential tone when addressing Lord Romney and his princes. After all, one day he’ll pass the royal scepter off to the next handsome leader in his line of succession.

Hopefully once the elections are over the Romney clan can go back to nobly serving their country in the private sector. But I doubt that you’ll ever see any of them flipping burgers at McDonalds.

Romney, Mitt Romney, Presidential Candidates, Romney sons

Amendment 29

Jury trials shall be decided by lay magistrates. Lay magistrates shall be hired by the chief executive officer in the jurisdiction where the lay magistrate serves. Lay magistrates shall serve ten year terms. Lay magistrates shall receive training in the evaluation of evidence and the application of legal precedence.

juries, constitution, constitutional amendment, jury trials

Most people called to jury duty don’t actually serve. They just sit around all day at the courthouse waiting for a trial to begin. We hire jury commissioners and administrators to process thousands of potential jurors every day. It disrupts work schedules and forces employers to account for lost productivity. The extra traffic every morning clogs the roads and fills up downtown parking lots.

Inconsistent evidence, dishonest witnesses and silent defendants all make resolving criminal cases difficult. For most people, jury service is a once in a lifetime experience. High priced attorneys on the other hand spend 365 days a year finding clever ways to mislead novice juries. Professionals could do a better job.

juries, courthouse, jury commissioners

People wonder how top notch defense attorneys can overcome overwhelming evidence to keep their clients out of prison. Picking gullible jurors helps. When all the evidence points to your client’s guilt, you don’t want Cum Laude types on the panel. So lawyers use voir dire to dismiss unsuitable potential jurors without giving a reason.

Attorneys may also seek a change of venue in order to draw from a different jury pool. This shifts the trial to another county, where residents may have a more lax attitude about certain offenses.

Our juries are composed of carefully selected individuals with little to no training in evaluating evidence, applying legal precedence or even working with others in a courtroom setting. These groups then determine the fate of the most dangerous people in our society.

Before trials even begin, attorneys hire jury consultants to help them find just the right candidates, the ones that will tip the balance in their favor. It can take only one juror holding out to force a mistrial. Then the prosecutor has to bring charges all over again. Very wealthy defendants will spare no expense to obtain a favorable verdict. In America, that includes picking the right jurors.

juries, voir dire, jury consultants, change of venue, mistrial

When the neighbor’s house catches on fire, you call 911. The emergency operator answering the phone works for the government. So do the firefighters controlling the blaze, the paramedics treating the injured and the highway patrol officers managing traffic at the scene. We rely on civil servants to keep our streets clean, our food uncontaminated and our job sites safe. We brush up against them every day. The days of menacing rulers lording over us from faraway castles have long since passed.

Our courthouses are full of public officials. The judges, the prosecutors, the bailiffs and the clerks all work for American taxpayers. It’s a quaint notion that we’ve carried forward into our modern system of justice. We entrust every aspect of our criminal trials to civil servants, except actually deciding cases.

No other country in the world relies so heavily on untrained juries. England uses lay magistrates to decide criminal cases. Comparable to American justices of the peace, these magistrates learn to set aside their personal biases as part of the job. It makes them more impartial than inexperienced lay jurors, not less. We should use lay magistrates in this country and bring a higher level of expertise to this critically important process.

jury, jurors, magistrates, lay magistrates, lay jury

The laws of the United States are derived from British jurisprudence. In 1215, Barons from north England forced King John to place his royal seal on the Magna Carta, which includes this guarantee: “No free man shall be seized or imprisoned… except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.” Of course back in the day, courts used thumbscrews and the rack to dispense justice. 21st century defendants usually live through the trial. So the need to place every judgment in the hands of untrained locals has greatly diminished. We now have a much greater level of trust in government employees.

According to the Innocence Project there have been 200 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States, including fourteen from death row. If some juries found innocent defendants guilty, it’s likely other juries blew it on not guilty verdicts, thereby setting bad characters loose on the streets. But in our system we never reassemble juries and hold them accountable for erroneous decisions.

Full time professional juries would keep attorneys on their toes. Overworked public defenders represent indigent citizens in our country. These lawyers haven’t the time or resources to fully investigate difficult cases. An experienced jury could spot inadequate representation on either side and ask the judge to order an independent investigation. A thorough evaluation of all evidence in criminal cases will get the truth out, and that’s the key to just verdicts.

jury trial, Magna Carta, Innocence Project, DNA, death row, exonerate

Judging by the popularity of celebrity justice on TV, one would think that Americans must cherish jury service as an honored civic responsibility. Instead we try anything to avoid it. And why shouldn’t we? Jurors must work with complete strangers to evaluate sketchy, conflicting evidence. And bad decisions have tragic consequences. For this we earn $12 a day, plus free parking downtown.

According to thinking handed down from the 13th century, a jury of commoners can set aside their biases more easily than a jury of public servants. No wonder so many of us have misgivings about the government. We’ve codified a basic distrust of public officials into our Constitution.

Deciding criminal cases correctly requires a certain level of expertise. We could use public employees with special training in evaluating criminal evidence for this task. Instead we use amateurs. Professionals working for our government sit next to us on the bus, in church and even on the juries we have otherwise been keeping them from.

Our highest priority when it comes to criminal trials should be to make certain the guilty are convicted and the innocent exonerated. It’s time to transfer this critical responsibility to properly equipped personnel.

Jury Trial, Jury of Peers, Jury Alternatives, Jury, Juries

Amendment 28

The National Defense Council shall serve as Commander in Chief of the United States Army, Navy, Air Forces and Marines, and shall command the National Guard, the Reserves and all other Armed Forces of the United States when called into actual service, and shall appoint and direct all civilian employees of the Department of Defense, including the Secretary of Defense.

The National Defense Council shall consist of five members. Each member shall serve a four year term and no member shall serve more than two terms. Members will be elected by a majority national vote in which all eligible voters may participate. Each voter may choose five individual members. The five candidates receiving the most votes shall be seated on the Council. Voters may not vote for the same candidate more than once in the same election.

Council members must be US citizens at least 35 years of age when taking office.

Council members may be removed from office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of Treason, Bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

If any Council member dies, becomes permanently incapacitated or resigns while in office, a new member will be chosen by a majority vote in the House of Representatives. The new member will serve the remainder of the absent member’s term.

Decisions of the Council shall be according to majority vote.

Constitutional Amendment, Commander in Chief, Amendment 28

Americans pray for the health of their president but not every prayer is answered. William Henry Harrison caught a bug shortly after his inauguration. He never recuperated and passed away only a month into his presidency. James Garfield was shot in 1881 and died from blood poisoning 80 days later. Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke during his second term. Dwight Eisenhower had a heart attack early in his presidency. Circumstances like this paralyze the commander in chief, something we can hardly afford in this day and age.

Scandals sidetrack presidencies as well. Watergate rattled Richard Nixon. Warren Harding struggled through Teapot Dome. Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson were impeached. Presidential indiscretions have become a part of our national lexicon. All of this leaves our command vehicle sputtering along tenuously on one wheel, when with five wheels we could blow a tire and keep on going.

Lately, presidents have argued that their role as commander in chief during “wartime” affords them extraordinary Constitutional rights. With the role of commander in chief in the hands of a National Defense Council, presidential powers would stay the same in war as in peace. The president would have no right to unilaterally suspend laws related to domestic spying, detentions or treatment of war time prisoners.

The United States has embassies around the world and we need the Marines on site to protect our diplomats. A National Defense Council could oversee this type of deployment with minimal Congressional oversight. But before we train our big guns on another country’s security forces, the most representative branch of our government should declare war, as required by the Constitution.

The current imbalance of power in our federal government threatens to undermine the very principles on which our country was founded. A structural adjustment would diversify the executive branch and strengthen our democracy.

federalism, commander in chief, executive branch

Of course we all know that the president does much more than simply fulfill his Constitutional obligations. The president also serves as the head of his political party and patronage is the fuel that keeps these machines running. Candidates present themselves as the choice of their side and that’s good enough for many voters. A personally delivered endorsement from the party’s presidential nominee helps to bring out the base on Election Day. The newly seated legislator is then expected to support the president, especially on critically important matters like military deployments. So invasion plans get drawn up in the oval office and Congress hears about it later. Party politics promotes dictatorial leadership.

The president’s voice in military matters will always be heard because the chief executive serves as our top diplomat. But with multiple deployments in a dangerous and complex world, we need a focused commander in chief. And we need to keep partisanship out of the national security equation. Blending hardball politics with military strategy poisons our democracy.

Commander In Chief, Partisanship