Bring Undercover Boss to Washington DC

Let's make the most disconnected of politicians in DC an offer they can't refuse. Well, okay, they can refuse it easily but I just wanted to use a fun cliche and that was all that came to mind.

Have you seen the CBS show Undercover Boss? Rich CEOs of major corporations wear awful disguises and spy on their workers while failing miserably at working factory-level jobs in their own company... Of course, in the most ironic of twists (totally predictable), the CEO ultimately understands 1st hand how hard the factory-level employees work and how little they get in return. So the CEO does what any rich white dude does when he feels bad for people less fortunate than he...

He shows everyone how much money he has!

But seriously, the CEOs really do seem to learn from these experiences, and no matter how transparent their episode-ending extravaganza is, they really do give quite generously to their employees and (at least temporarily while the cameras are still watching) brainstorm improved company policies to better care for the hard working employees that run day to day operations of the companies that made them millions.

Well, it is my opinion that too many politicians think of the people they represent as an abstraction... not anything tangible or real. A means to an end. Maybe if we give them the opportunity to make the abstract more real, it would be a step in the right direction. At least maybe get us off of a bridge to nowhere...

I'm not talking a 5 minute photo op in an indigent neighborhood on the campaign trial shaking hands with and giving a new backpack to a kid you've never met. I want Rick Santorum to take his kids to a school in middle of nowhere that has mold growing on the walls, text books from 1949 and has one teacher for 5 grades who volunteers. I want them to stay all day, and learn from those books, learn from that teacher. I want them to go stay with a family in that community who has 3 families in a one room dwelling and no working plumbing. I want them to see the father who does go work 2 jobs and still can't make ends meet. Hyperbole? Maybe. Get the point? I hope so.

I want to see Michele Bachman meet a 12 year old girl who has been molested by her father and wishes to abort the pregnancy from that traumatic event. This is serious stuff. It is one thing to say "The 12 year old girl who is pregnant with her father's child from a violent rape has options other than abortion... she can adopt..." It is quite another to look that 12 year old in the face, hear her story from her own mouth and feel the same way.

Sometimes I imagine these politicians see their voters as chess pieces instead of people... forgetting that the legislation they push is more than paper money in their capitol hill monopoly game. That real paper has real legislation that has real consequences for the people they never see.

So let's at least give them the opportunity to understand that their policies and "shared sacrifice" isn't just a fun slogan that sounds "fair"... let's ask them live their own policies and not let them make rules that they and their friends don't have to live by.

I was thinking we could brainstorm and come up with at least one candidate who seems disconnected to the public but may be a good sport about things and play along (AKA not Mitt Romney who is too busy yelling at poor people and telling them that corporations are people too...Yes, corporations are a legal fiction, but don't scream that to a man who is trying to tell you he is being taxed out of existence while "people" named Wal-Mart don't pay taxes)

We could create an online petition and send it to CBS and see if they would be willing to do a politician version of Undercover Boss! With a little luck, help from CBS and enough publicity to make whoever the lucky winner is seem like an insensitive asshole if they say no, we may just have ourselves some good TV to watch in a few months.

But seriously, probably won't happen, but maybe worth the effort? That's how I see it... how do you?

A Confession And Brief Introduction...

I have a confession to make. I am a nerd...

Phew! Glad that is out of the way. So, why a blog? Really, it boils down to one question... "Why Not?!"

I've yet to focus my goals for what I may want to come from this project... All I know is that law school opened my eyes to various areas of that law that I would really like to pursue independently. Beyond school, I have found that my legal education has equipped me with many tools to synthesize what is going on in the country today (politically, socially, etc...) Mix that with the fact that I've always been expressive and opinionated and a blog just seemed like a natural place to start.

Although I am sure my blog project will change shape many times as I focus on end goals (whatever they may be), for now, the plan is to write posts that react to things that I see in the news or in everyday life... Anything is up for grabs.

Behind the scenes, I am researching for some scholarly writing and may use some of that to draft some opinion editorials as well. Areas I am exploring are:

(1) The Nobility Clause and Lobbyists: Why The Framer's Would Condemn Our Current Practices Regarding Campaign Finance and Lobbying

(2) Direct Democracy: The Case For Federal Initiatives and Referenda

(3) Representative or Aristocrat? The Dangers Of A Representative System When Only The Elite Have A Voice

(4) A Look Back At Japanese Internment In WW2: Did We Learn Our Lesson?

(5) What's In A Name: Solving The Gay Marriage Dilema

I look forward to watching this blog evolve and hope you will comment and be a part of it!