Thinking Citizen Blog — Far Fetched Ideas for the New Year — Is It Finally Time for a Third Party?
Thinking Citizen Blog — Sunday is Political Process, Campaign Strategy, and Candidate Selection Day
Today’s Topic: Far Fetched Ideas for the New Year — Is It Finally Time for a Third Party?
Not long ago the idea of Donald Trump being President was considered utter lunacy. Now we have George Santos admitting to fraud of the worst kind and still expecting to take his seat in Congress. You really can’t make this stuff up. Then last week I happened on to an op-ed piece in the New York Times that proposed the idea that “the next House Speaker Should Come From Outside the House.” What?!? Today, a few excerpts from that article. Do you have a favorite far-fetched idea? Is it, for example, finally time for a third party? Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
THE HOUSE SPEAKER DOES NOT HAVE TO COME FROM THE HOUSE
1. “It may come as a surprise to many Americans to learn that the Constitution does not require the House speaker to be a member of the House.”
2. “The Constitution provides for election of a speaker but does not require House membership to serve in that position. That’s because the office was not conceived as a partisan agent, but rather as one serving the whole House and, in that role, the entire nation.”
3. “The Constitution anticipated a leader respected across the broadest possible spectrum of the American people, much as George Washington had presided over the convention that drafted our governing charter in 1787.”
NB: “The time has come to exercise that constitutional flexibility and choose a House speaker from outside the House.”
WHO ON EARTH WOULD YOU PROPOSE FOR THE POSITION?
1. “The list includes John Kasich (above), a former House Budget Committee chairman who demonstrated a capacity to shape common ground in his service as governor of Ohio.”
2. “The retiring Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan enjoys respect in both parties.”
3. “As does departing governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan.”
A SECRET BALLOT WOULD BE KEY — BUT IT CAN BE DONE! (really?)
1. “There must be a secret ballot for speaker that would free individual members — primarily Republicans, but also some Democrats — to vote for such a candidate without fearing reprisal in a future party primary.”
2. “A motion for such a ballot might come from a member of the Republican majority — that caucus chose its leader by secret vote — but it would be a more potent signal of serious purpose if offered by the Democrats.”
3. “If there were ever an opportunity for constructive innovation within the constitutional framework, election of the next House speaker presents it.”
NB: One of the two authors of this article is William S. Cohen, a former Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton (1997–2001) who served in both the Senate (1979–1997) and House (1973–1979), as a Republican. The co-author is Alton Frye a former Congressional staff director. Cohen is pictured above.
Opinion | The Next House Speaker Should Come From Outside the House
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cohen
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“You’ve got to continue to grow, or you’re just like last night’s corn bread — stale and dry.” - Loretta Lynn
LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, 11/17/20
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to political process or campaign strategy or 2020 candidate selection or anything else for that matter.
This is your chance to make some one else’s day or change their thinking. Or to consolidate in your own memory something worth remembering that might otherwise be lost. Or to clarify or deepen your own understanding of something dear to your heart. Continuity is key to depth of thought.
