Two Americas? At least.

Former Senator John Edwards used the phrase and theme "two Americas" when he ran for president. Unfortunately, there are at least that many and always have been. Our current political gridlock is derived from the mess of a start that the United States had. Ridiculous compromises and expedient deals were made simply to found this country and they persist in our system of government. The only way to purge them is to change the system, which constitutionally, is unlikely to change. In their desire to have all the relevant British colonies become part of the new nation, the founding fathers made deals that make today's look principled. Not only did they not abolish slavery, they permitted the importation of slaves for another 20 years. They permitted the offspring of slaves to be slaves even though in other parts of the world those children would have been free. They implemented a compromise in which three of five slaves would count as free people for the number of seats in the House of Representatives. They maintained the British aristocratic concept of the House of Lords by establishing the U.S. Senate. Wyoming and California each have two senators. And we wonder why our federal government has become so dysfunctional. I have written about constitutional changes before:

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2008 Electing the President: a new system

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2008 Electing the Vice President: a new system

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2008 City States in America:

New York City ... could be a new state with its own perspective and issues... The U.S. constitution has many flaws. An obvious one is the disproportionate nature of the Senate. The founders did not intend for the Senate to be proportionate but they could never have imagined that it would become so hugely disproportionate because they could not have imagined that cities would become so populous... Once New York sets the precedent, all large U.S. cities should follow... Once cities started to secede the Congress would have no choice but to admit them as city states. _________________________________

What to do?

1. Let states and other municipalities secede. No, the American Civil War did not settle this issue. Show me the constitutional amendment, which addresses this. If Lincoln had truly been great there would have been no civil war. When slave states seceded, he should have let them go. He could have corrected some of the original mistakes while leaving the original sin of slavery where it belonged: with the slave states of the Confederacy. The peculiar institution would have ended in about twenty years and the Confederacy would have failed by then. Those states could have been considered for re-admission but on terms that would have made far more sense than what evolved out of the civil war.

2. Within the limited federal functionality that remains, let states do what they want. If they want to rely on the federal government a lot, let them. If they don't, don't force them. If people in Mississippi want to continue to act against their own best interests, let them. Let health insurance companies in Mississippi rule that industry. But if people in New York state want to rely on the federal government, that should be allowed, too. New Yorkers can have a government option on health insurance, some alternative to the private companies. New York has a lot of regulation on health insurance already. Let New York have as much as it wants. Let Mississippi continue to lose population to places like ... New York. In other words, don't fight the two Americas, the many Americas. Let them exist. With our current constitutional structure there is no choice. So unless you are willing to change the U.S. Constitution or, dare I say it, start over, multiple forms of government will exist. Give tea party people (Are they all grouchy old white people?) the option to live under a form of government that suits them. It seems that about one third of Americans are pretty nuts. You cannot reason with nutty people. Obama needs to learn this and stop wasting his time. You cannot reason with terrorists either. Obama, get over it. There is bipartisanship only with those who are not partisan. Another third of Americans are committed to their political thoughts but are not nuts. Then there are the remaining third of Americans who are dumb, either by birth or by choice. Jay Leno interviews them on the street. We generally are appalled at how much they do not know. They are morons. No offense to former Alaska governess Palin or to any of her neglected kids. Hey, to each his/her own.