Pragmatic approaches to revising the course this nation is on seem to be lacking in the current design of our most basic national institutions. Is it possible that our founders did not conceive a time when we had become this powerful and this incompetent at managing our own affairs? Is it possible that Thomas Paine would embrace aristocracy and even autocracy if he saw our Democracy today? Would James Madison and Thomas Jefferson throw their hands in the air if they heard the great national debates of our time and embrace King George as the saner of the two governments? Would anyone in that crowd have risked their Life their Liberty and their Sacred Honor for this future? What would they have done if they could see the mess we have accepted as the norm today?

In Kansas the debate continues to rage. Will the school board embrace divinity or monkeys as the primary actors in their ancestral design? In California the governor is so steeped in ambition that he fails to recognize a simple fact. Making debt is not balancing the budget it is simply still making debt. In New York one of the most powerful men in the Corporatocracy has fallen victim to his inability to count his company's money accurately. Having lost a billion dollars or two or three, nobody knows for sure, his former company, AIG is undertaking a recount of its past annual figures. No matter what the outcome the shareholders and the people will still lose.

Meanwhile, back from the ranch, our President is out selling snake oil on the circuit again. Promising everyone a free lunch from the stock markets is only possible in a society that has forgotten how corrupt that mountain of greed can easily become at a moments notice. We have preachers that want to eliminate our judges' devotion to law. We have doctors who want to keep us alive until the last dollar and machine driven breath is gone. We have other doctors who want to help us die painlessly. We have law firms who make incomes greater than President Washington's national budget for his first year in office by attacking the tobacco industry.

We have priests that abuse children and ministers that support killing doctors who perform abortions. We have men so rich that they can impact public health on whole continents and women so wealthy that they pay other women to bear their children. We can travel around the world cheaper and faster than imaginable even one hundred years ago. Unfortunately nobody wants to see us when we arrive in their nation anymore. The amount of commerce traveling on the world's seas daily is worth more than the whole GDP of the world in 1776. Human prosperity is greater than was imaginable when those good men conceived this nation, and 24,000 people still die from starvation every day.

The founders would recognize this world. They were sophisticated men. Would they be proud of us for what we have made of their great gifts of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness? Would they be proud that we have embraced the Pope's rejection of birth control? Or would they be ashamed that we have rejected his opposition to our wars of conquest? Would they be shocked at the boldness of the influence seekers in our capitol or merely disgusted at our dismal acceptance of them? Would they be amused by Jon Stewart and annoyed by Rush Limbaugh or vice versa?

What would they think of our incursions into Iraq and Afghanistan? How would they feel about our annual budget for military forces kept around the world? Would General Washington marvel at our ability to Shock and Awe the world, or would he recognize the flaws in that approach to power? They would marvel at the great cities we have built, would they be surprised at the gangs that roam their streets? It is a standard approach to life today for our politicians to call on the founder's support for their endeavors. Our founders are revered but not listened to at all. They would not be gratified by our cult of personality.

Ben Franklin's, Poor Richard's Almanac would be a blog today and the mere existence of Rupert Murdoch would probably drive Thomas Paine into madness. One modern rifle with, admittedly, a large amount of ammunition would have changed the course of their war. They would have been home in time for Christmas.

One modern Company of Marines supplied with combat arms and trained in their use could probably have whipped the whole lot of them. Of course our GPS systems might not have worked so well without satellites to send us location signals. The lack of electrical infrastructure would have been inconvenient. The lack of roads would have made supply harder to maintain. But with the level of will and determination that those under-equipped founders were able to summon our nation was formed. Would they have gone to all of that trouble if they had been able to see the outcome?

We'll never know for sure but that is a good question for us to ask ourselves. We can be proud of our heritage but I find it harder to accept the opinion that we can be proud of our use of it. In any case the Wren is starting to chirp and the mockingbirds are starting to bitch about the new day. I'm going to watch the sunrise over my patio wall today and get on with my life. God bless and keep you all safe today.