Garrison Keillor: 40 States is Plenty .

[madfloridian]

I have been doing some more reading up in the Garrison Keillor archives at Salon. There are some real gems there. In this column he says we really need to reform the Senate.

He made his discovery of the Senate problem when George Allen started getting so much attention.

Democrats intend to bring reform to Washington, and why not begin with the United States Senate? It has been sorely in need of reform for a century or so. Two senators per state is a good idea in theory, assuming they are half smart, but then you look at George Allen, a lumbering frat boy from the state of Madison and Jefferson, and you think, whoa, something is wrong with this picture. We need some horizontal control.

Forty States is Plenty

He suggests we redraw the map, and he points out some absurdities.

Let's start at the beginning and redraw the map. First of all, is there a reason for Wyoming to exist as a state? I have often wondered about this. Why give two Senate seats to a half million dimestore cowboys while California gets two seats for 34 million people? (Wyoming has roughly the population of Sacramento.) It's OK if Wyoming sends somebody with brains and an independent streak, but when they send a couple of Republican hacks, then it makes no sense.

He suggests which states we don't really need, and what to do with them.

While we're at it, let's admit that Utah, Texas and Vermont have never been completely comfortable as part of the United States. They've tried to fit in, but it just isn't working, so let's allow them to pull out and find their own path. You could attach Nevada to Utah and make a lovely little desert nation out of that, and let Vermont join Canada, and make Texas a republic. Add Oklahoma to it. They really are part of the same thing. This leaves us with 43 states, which we could reduce to 40 by joining Rhode Island and New Hampshire and making Idaho part of Montana and combining North and South Dakota into one state called West Minnesota. It's called consolidation, folks. It goes on all the time in corporate America and also in local school districts, so let's make it work for America.

He reminds us that Tom DeLay showed us the way to such redistricting, and that George Allen came dangerously close to running for president.

I wrote about a more somber post of his a few months ago, when he blasted those who voted for the torture bill. He mentions a Methodist Church in Texas where he was asked to speak.

Congress's Shameful Retreat From American Values

I got some insight last week into who supports torture when I went down to Dallas to speak at Highland Park Methodist Church. It was spooky. I walked in, was met by two burly security men with walkie-talkies, and within 10 minutes was told by three people that this was the Bushes' church and that it would be better if I didn't talk about politics. I was there on a book tour for "Homegrown Democrat," but they thought it better if I didn't mention it. So I tried to make light of it: I told the audience, "I don't need to talk politics. I have no need even to be interested in politics - I'm a citizen, I have plenty of money and my grandsons are at least 12 years away from being eligible for military service." And the audience applauded! Those were their sentiments exactly. We've got ours, and who cares?

The Garrison Keillor archives at Salon.
http://dir.salon.com/topics/garrison_keillor/

[demnan]

1. Bet he doesn't feel this way now

And George Allen can't even get a job in this town anymore, the lobbyists won't have him.

[mdmc]

2. kick

R

[piedmont]

3. Looks like satire to me,

poking fun of those who want to change the system rather than working within it to accomplish their goals.

[madfloridian]

6. Yes, it is Garrison Keillor satire.

Definitely. :hi:

[piedmont]

12. Sorry to be master-of-the-obvious.

I only read the excerpts you posted, which I suppose could have been taken seriously. It's pretty obvious if you read the whole thing though. Thanks for posting this!

[madfloridian]

14. I knew what you meant.

Keillor has made this an art form, this type of satire. I also forgot that some people won't read through the ad for the day pass at Salon. It would be hard to get the full meaning, and it is such a great article. The paragraph rule doesn't allow the full meaning to come through.

[kath]

31. heck, getting through the ad for the Salon day pass takes about 5 seconds.

sheesh.

Keillor has some great columns over there.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Can Washington volunteer to join Canada?

I'd sign the petition.

[madfloridian]

8. And what do we do with Florida?

:evilgrin:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. Well, it would be a long commute to Toronto. How about Kingston?

[kestrel91316]

11. We won't HAVE FL to worry about much longer. 50% of the state

will be underwater in 50 years (kestrel's prediction - because she thinks we will see both Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets completely disappear by then, and it's 40 ft up the seas will go).

[tkmorris]

13. Draw a line just below West Pam Beach

Everything north of that can become Lower Alabama. Those of us south of that could maybe adapt Key West's idea and call ourselves the Conch Republic.

[madfloridian]

15. I think you sized the state up pretty well.

With a few pockeds of resistance in otherwise bleakly fundamentalist areas.

:hi:

[Jackpine Radical]

27. I think we should sell you to Cuba.

Or give you to Cuba if they won't pay anything.
Or pay Cuba to take you off our hands as a last resort.

[madfloridian]

28. Heard that before. I have also heard...

that we should just be cut off from the rest of the country at the state line. Can't say I blame anyone for thst. We gave the Bush brothers two terms each. Not good. B-)

[Nutmegger]

5. 5th Rec - Time to send this to the Greatest!

:kick:

[yurbud]

7. I like idea of giving low population red states to Halliburton. If it's good enough for Iraq...

That might be blunt enough to give those red staters pause. or not.

[Warpy]

10. Westerners always grumble about the size of those itty bitty

states back east getting separate representation. Why, all of New England could fit into (insert my state here)! Why should they stay separate states?

Both they and Keillor are wrong. The Senate is meant to represent the states, themselves, not the people who reside within their borders. That's why Senators were originally chosen by state legislatures, not the voters.

Of course, it's always fun to tell westerners that dirt don't vote unless it's sitting on the Supreme Court.

:evilgrin:

[hedgehog]

16. Sure, Senators were originally meant to represent the states,

but we have always amended the Constitution to push it closer to building a nation where each individual has equal rights. It's been amended so black men could vote and later so all women can vote. MAybe it's time to amend it so a vote in California or New York is as valuable as a vote in Wyoming.

Alternatively, states below a minimum population should revert to territorial status. How does it make sense that Wyoming has two senators and D.C doesn't? Yes, I know that D.C is a special district, but why can't we allow people there to vote with Maryland or Virginia, for example.

[Morgana LaFey]

17. If we made Texas a Republic

They'd just attack us. Otherwise I'm all for it (making TX a Republic -- not so crazy about his overall plan).

[Manifestor_of_Light]

20. Make Texas a Republic AGAIN

Fine with me. We have the right to split up into five or six separate states if we wish, when we secede. This was one of the conditions of our joining the Union in 1845, after 10 years as a Republic.

With all the Texas Bashing on D.U., here's one native Texan that thinks that's a good idea.

All Texans are NOT stupid and redneck, in spite of what some here believe. Some of us are cultured and educated.

[madfloridian]

21. Texas would "just attack us."

:rofl:

[Left Is Write]

18. "...and combining North and South Dakota into one state called West Minnesota."

:rofl:

[Joanne98]

23. LOL!

[Odin2005]

32. This Minnesotan loved that one.

:evilgrin:

[Bluebear]

19. 'Those dinkeldorfs who ran the show for 12 years must never be allowed to return to power. '

:spray:

[Joanne98]

22. I would give Texas back to Mexico!

[Fleshdancer]

24. oh gee...more "drop Texas" crap.

You really want to piss off Molly Ivins and awake the spirits of Barbara Jordan and Ann Richards? Think about it. You throw away TX then you throw away a lot of great people...plus America would be a little more boring without Austin. Just sayin'.

[Solon]

25. This has to be satire, bad satire at that...

I'm a reformer, but not like that, my reforms are far less extreme, and, oddly enough, don't require anything that drastic. The House of Representatives should have its limit lifted entirely, its arbitrary anyways, and we should have a set ratio of representatives to people they represent. Also, we need to get rid of districting entirely, it isn't needed, and use at-large elections within each state.

[madfloridian]

26. Yes, Garrison Keiller is very good at satire. I think it is witty and great.

He is being tongue in cheek, very.

I think it is funny what he said about all the states, it is just humor.

[madfloridian]

29. "The little man"....Keillor on how Bush will be remembered in history.

A world too big for him.

History will remember Bush as an incompetent and incurious man overwhelmed by a world too big for him.

Keillor says "the old Brush Cutter" never got the "knack of urging"
and when he tries he looks "small and petulant, like a cartoon of himself."

The Little Man

And he has met the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and visited with young people horribly wounded in the war, which would be a soul-searing experience for any commander. To see a beautiful young woman who must now live without an arm as a direct result of decisions you made -- who could see this and not scour the depths of your conscience?

And to suffer pangs of conscience even as you exhort the public to have confidence in you -- this has to be an interesting experience. Your mistakes are responsible for terrible suffering, but you stand among your victims and urge public support for your policies as a sign of support for the people those policies have injured. This is a plot worthy of Shakespeare.

So why does he still seem so small, our president? In his presidential library, he'll be portrayed as Abraham Lincoln after Chancellorsville and FDR after Corregidor, but to most of us, the crisis in Washington today stems from a man intellectually and temperamentally unequipped to rise to the challenge. Most of us sense that when, decades from now, the story of this administration comes out, it will be one of ordinary incompetence, of rigid and incurious people overwhelmed by events in a world they don't dare look around and see.

[madfloridian]

30. Can't resist...Vermont is talking about secession on VPR..can't wait for audio.

http://www.vpr.net/vt_news/switchboard.shtml

"Thurs., Jan. 11 at 7 p.m.: Vermont Secession
In 1777, Vermont declared its independence, an event that will be commemorated this Monday, January 15th. Now, 230 years later a group of determined Vermonters has proposed that the state secede and create what they call the Second Vermont Republic. Fran Stoddard hosts a discussion about the philosophical and practical question of Vermont becoming an independent republic."

More discussion of this from "listener" at HEP.

http://howardempowered.blogspot.com/2007/01/ready-for-little-stress-release_12.html

"Here are my notes made during the show...for your stress-releasing musings!
XOXOXXX ♥ listener


"Why secede?"
Government has become too big
The US Empire has become unmanageable.

'What about the loss of federal funds?"
We will have more usable funds ourselves than the funds we receive with mandates.

"How would the rest of the country view us, and how would VT be perceived as a Republic? How would it affect tourism?"
50 nations and states in the world are smaller than Vermont.
Other nations may feel MORE willing to visit VT if it were independent.

"What if we had an emergency?"
Two words: Hurricane Katrina."

Audio should be available at VPR soon.