Amid all the talk of increasing the numbers of soldiers going to Afghanistan we don’t talk about or ask about the number of "contractors" or mercenaries we’re using to fight this war. How much more difficult would it be for policy makers if the public understood how many mercenaries are being used and/or how dearly their use is costing us financially? And apparently the head of one of the prime mercenary organizations is taking steps to ensure he and his company will not only continue to get paid, but also be exempt from legal questions.

This is a result of a recent Vanity Fair interview with Erik Prince, the CEO of Xe (formerly known as Blackwater). Here are links to two analyses of the Vanity Fair article.

For my money, if I were King for a day, the contractors would go away in favor of expanding our military. If you’re someone who’s prime concern for maintaining freedom is securing the Second Amendment, I’ve got new for you. The use of these mercenaries is (in my opinion) ten times the threat to your freedom compared to mild restrictions on firearms ownership.

Speaking of money, going away from mercenaries could significantly reduce our costs.

Here are the links.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/04/simons.prince.blackwater/index.html

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091221/scahill2

A friend recently sent me a link to a Tea Party web site with an article there discussing Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) as a means of better being able to replace incumbent elected officials. The article made a very strong case for IRV. The commentary, however, was disappointing for its demonstration of a lack of understanding of the reality of modern politics. In particular, I noted commentary calling for enactment of term limits as a better alternative to IRV. I’m going to discuss why I disagree with term limits being a better alternative.

I should clarify that I am not opposed to term limits in and of themselves. I simply think time and energy are finite resources and should be spent on the alternatives most likely to lead to better results.

One reason term limits appeal is the perception of basic problem being one of the individuals representing us. Replace those individuals, the theory goes, and all will be well.

Certainly there are individuals who probably should be replaced, but individuals are not the basic problem. The basic problem is the political system we have created to select the individuals who represent us. The political system is the source of the behavior we get from our representatives. The system is why we have so much posturing and "gotcha" type behavior. If you want to change the behavior of the individual representatives, then you must change the system they are selected under.

Consider this other point about individuals. Individuals can do . . .

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