PC Magazine’s John Dvorak has a great idea about decentralizing Congress in the face of a possible terrorist attack
More important is the security issue. As things sit today, one suitcase nuke set off near the Capitol buildings would pretty much wipe out the federal government and kill all the representatives and senators at once. This would be a serious problem. Just look at the devastation a submegaton bomb caused in Hiroshima. Well, imagine D.C. being in that condition. Why does it remain a sitting duck?
Times have changed, and a centralized federal government that has to meet in one location all the time is no longer what we need. That makes no sense. It barely made sense once the telephone was invented, but now it makes no sense whatsoever. For a few committees or major hearings I can see the rationale for a gathering. But for debate, votes, and even discussion, it’s nonsense. Watch C-SPAN and you’ll see people yakking to empty rooms. Suddenly everyone runs in to cast a vote, then they’re off to lunch or dinner with lobbyists. This exercise could be done just as easily on a BlackBerry. More important, if congressmen, representatives and senators alike were in their hometowns most of the time, rather than in expensive Georgetown flats, they would have a better grip on what constituents want from them.
Dvorak’s basic idea ? Decentralize Congress. Keep Congressman and Senators at home, network Congress, and let them legislate from 50 (or more) different locations. On paper, it sounds like a good idea. Over at Vodkapundit, Stephen Green offers a three paragraph explanation of why this will never work:
Pretend for a moment that you are Rt. Hon. Congressperson Mylar H. Crawfish, representing the greater East Sphincter, Utah area. You get to spend most of your time in a city filled with people just like you. Some are elected officials, some work in the media, some are lobbyists, and some come from exotic foreign countries. And not only do they share your Washington-centric attitude ? but, as a big player in Washington yourself, all those people revolve around you.
Now the yokels demand that you spend all your time at home. With them. Talking to the local media (”Bob”). Attending potluck dinners when it isn’t even election season.
Of course, to effect such changes, it’s going to take action on the part of ? you. Are you, the Rt. Hon. M.H. Crawfish, really going to vote to disperse the nation’s capital to the entire nation? Of course not. Hell, the yokels might not even like the idea, once they realize that
I agree 100%. Decentralizing Congress may protect it from a terrorist attack, but it won’t save America from Congress.
Hat Tip: Vodkapundit
