[fastpat]

In response:

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Quite a number of individuals have written us to ask why the "Democrats in Power" counter that first appeared in The Libertarian Enterprise last week—and will appear in issues to come until the Democrats go away or the sun burns out, whichever comes first—started with the day after the election, rather than waiting until January when the left wing socialists first take their seats in Congress.

As a student of anthropology, as well as a lifelong observer of history and human nature, I know that power is, first and foremost, a social phenomenon—only secondarily a political one—and that the Democrats are, in very nearly every way that counts, already in charge.

Look, for example, at the highly publicized meeting between George W. Bush and the newly-designated Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Six weeks ago, the second worst President America has ever suffered under still thought he was the King of the World. However the day after the election, his every waking minute became preoccupied with avoiding impeachment and being prosecuted for crimes against humanity. If he were a dog instead of the Chimpanzee-in-Chief, he would have rolled over on his back, his legs in the air, his throat bared for Nan Francisco.

I'm seeing similar submissive behavior at every government level, and it's only going to get more pathetic and disgusting between now and January. Socially, the Democrats have already taken over. They could say that the day after they're officially installed, the troops will start coming home from Afghanistan, Iraq, and the hundred and one surprising places they've been sent to since the Second World War, and those troops would start packing their toys and making dates with girls.

The Democrats could state publicly that they're going to set up a special court in Nuremburg, Pennsylvania to put Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld on trial, and Dick and Don would head straight for New Guinea.

The continued existence of this culture is incompatible with the continued existence of the Republicans and Democrats. Something new has to happen. Democrats are in power and we'll be counting the days they fail to do anything the voters elected them to do. They will take office with a moral deficit; I want that deficit seen and recorded, so that when Americans get fed up with them, they'll be less content just to let themselves get slapped over to the Republican side of the court.

L. Neil Smith, Publisher
The Libertarian Enterprise