-- LONG POST - please stick with me --
In a day to talk and think about politics more than most other days, when people discuss leadership, and what kind the U.S. needs, I am wondering: if, by some fickle finger of fate, you were elected to office in the House or the Senate, and the recount confirmed it, would you serve?

I have to say "I don't know."

I think what the U.S. needs is individuals who don't want to lead anybody and have to be dragged into office kicking and screaming as if to the gallows. [figuratively, of course; there still is no good reason to initiate force] What should they do once they get there? Tear it down. Start by insisting that every single bureaucrat begin by dismantling his own fief and send everyone home to do something productive, if they can.

Yes, it would be a mess. A hideous, horrible, unforgettable mess, in every way that you can imagine. People will die, and bad things will happen to good people, and some of the science fiction writers will be right.

All the people who, while able-bodied, truly can't do anything at all, will wander and maybe fall under the sway of a group of someones who will say something like Edmund, in Ringo's heroic work which begins with "There will Be Dragons". "We can feed you and rest you for three days. Then you will begin to work through a training program to see what work you may be suited for and might even like. You will learn how to fell trees, run wood through a sawmill, cook, build rudimentary buildings, handle firearms, etc, etc. If you decide that this program is not for you, keep walking. Why am I the one telling you what to do? It's my sawmill. It's his professional kitchen. It's her fabric and thread and needles. We take suggestions every day from 6 to 6:30 in the bath-house. We do not take complaints."

Or, those able bodied but incompetent people might hook up with a bunch of other people just like them, and decide that society always owed them a living before, and it still does, and if they have to take it, they will. And, "If men like Boyle think that force is all they need to rob their betters - let them see what happens when one of their betters chooses to resort to force." - Ragnar Danneskjold

Or Steve Stirling might be right - he started writing a trilogy, now about 9 books, about what happens when no chemical force more complicated than fire works any more. People organize themselves into whatever kind of society they wish [and can get to work]: the Norsemen, the SCA, a Celtic clan, tribal life on the American plains, and more - and life, with all its complications, proceeds.

Those people in Washington who decide not to dismantle their petty kingdoms will be increasingly isolated, and lonely, and....hungry. When they decide to go somewhere, like back to "their" state, probably the best thing they could do is say "no, I don't have any skills, but I'm willing to learn." I imagine if they say something like "I'm [censored]! I'm your Senator! I'm your leader, listen to me!!" they'll be lucky if they've run into a group of Amish or the like, who might just laugh.

Remember, every possible outcome that you can think of, will probably happen. I'm always thinking about what I'll do, and what I might have to do, and whether I could do it, and who I'd want at my back.

I would hope that eventually, there would be stories about the heroes who brought us all back from the brink, and then went home, because they had made sure that there were homes to go back to for as many Americans as possible.

If winning an election had THAT kind of outcome - one that reinvented the Real America, I would reluctantly serve. Not eagerly, but honestly and as ably as I could.

Otherwise? Well, the Wizard had some oral surgery this afternoon and he's taking a nap, covered in cats. I'm feeling a little sleepy myself.

Thank you for your kind attention.