In article ,
Ed Rasimus writes:

In the current public demonstrations of World Class Idiocy

Even the darkest of clouds, does appear to have a silver lining.
Although, I'm sure a session or two in one of my political science
classes might cure your optimism.

Perhaps. I've kind of a skewed perspective on that, though, coming
from the State that's the first stop for the Primary Circus.

We get 'em all - from Candidates (Ranging from George W. to Tom "Billy
Jack" Laughlin) to Campaign Workers (There I was, walking down Elm
St. in MHT, when suddenly out of the Sun drops Carrot Top, with a full
head of steam & a handful of Kunecich flyers! I jinked left, behing
the CNBC truck, and...) and, worst of all, the Reporters. Oddly
enough, Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" was a lot closer to reality
than almost everyone else. You can't help but step into something.
That, and a long history of Participatory Politics. (Town Meetings
are still a big deal, up here. And that's where the budget gets voted
in, Line Item by Line Item. If you're gonna bitch about your taxes,
then you dhould have gone to the Meeting & voted against something.)

But - out of that has come an early awareness of Political Dynamics,
and the Evolution Thereof. Or, more to the point, we end up having
to explain it all to the incoming transplants.

You'd think that you'd be able to get them interested, though. The
U.S. Constitution, and most State Constitutions, are fascinating
examples of how to design feedback into a system - the balancing act
between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, for example, or the
clever and subtle weighting of the design of the Electoral College to
just shade things a bit against the Tyranny of the Majority. Those
Founding Father guys were damned clever - they found a way to make the
baser levels of human behavior mimic the behavior that would be
desired in the more enlightened.

Actually, Ed, I'd love to sit in on one of your courses, If I were
ever to be out to Colorado - just to see the expressions on their
faces.


--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster