Party Animals

Political party animals, that is.

Found in Samizdata as a quote of the day:

[A despot still has good moments; an assembly of despots never does. If one tyrant mistreats me, I can get round him by means of his mistress, his priest, or his page-boy. But a staid company of tyrants is impervious to temptation.]

- Voltaire.

Voltaire recognized a “staid” company of tyrants, but missed the mark of describing the childlike company we are facing in the US congress. The immediate and obvious way to deal with them is to bribe 51% of them. This raises the price of petitioning for redress of grievances, but it is still possible. Even better is when the tyrants organize themselves in a system based on seniority. Here, one only needs to bribe the more senior, and perhaps one or two of his advisors or cohorts. The drawback is that by the time the Senator or Representative has acquired such seniority, he’s so set in his ways, that the cost of changing his mind can be prohibitive.

The break point is when the cost of bribing the official becomes equal to the cost of replacing him. Incumbents are notoriously hard to displace, especially in a two-party system where voting one crook out means voting what you may consider another, even worse crook in. Thus, the best place to strike, is in the primaries. Incumbents are aware of this, and have done their best to insure that the party is solidly controlled by their allies. This level is where the myriad 3^rd parties actually belong. Republicans, for example, should be better organized among the Libertarian, Constitutional, Conservative, or whatever, wings. This makes it harder for the incumbent to sweep troublesome challengers under the rug.

Absent term limits, it makes it easier to replace politicians who have exceeded their shelf life, and become a liability to the party and the country.