SWNID Proposes Kook Exchange

Today's news includes two stories that prompt us to offer an innovative proposal.

First, on the national scene, the Washington Times reports that self-styled "peace activist" Cindy Sheehan--apparently independently wealthy enough to spend all her time annoying people, unless "peace activist" is actually a paying profession--disrupted one of many Democrat events annoucing the agenda for Nancy Pelosi's first 100 hours as National Nanny (or is it House Speaker?).* Democrats had to leave the room, unable to stand up to a symbol of their core support on the loony left.

Second, on the local scene, today's Enquirer chronicles the progress, if it can be called that, of Mason School Board member and self-styled "Christian conservative" Jennifer Miller. It seems that Ms. Miller has managed to accomplish nothing in her first year on the board, except to polarize the community, alienate other board members, blast the schools with unsubstantiated charges of waste, and raise the specter of similarly ineffective political wannabes running and winning in local elections. As far as her "agenda" is concerned, she's done nothing, as she can't even get a second for her motions in board meetings.

Sheehan and Miller are both, of course, embarrassments to their most natural political constituencies. Neither understands that political change comes with listening, thought, careful speech, and incremental change. Both appear to glory in their self-proclaimed radicalness. It just feels so good to yell out loud that everyone else is corrupt and doomed.

And in the meantime, the folks who are actually getting it done have to endure the opprobrium that such self-righteous kookiness engenders. SWNID has known "Christian conservatives" who hold school board positions and other local government posts. They don't need to posture their principles. Instead, they use sweet reason to build consensus across lines of ideology and self-interest. They are irritated that what they do with wisdom and discretion gets blown up by the nutty combativeness of Miller's ilk. We expect that the same is true for people who feel some sort of affinity with Sheehan, though we simply can't empathize enough to comment further.

But we do have our own radical proposal to offer as a solution: a Kook Exchange. We'll trade Miller for Sheehan. Each will become ward of the other side: Miller of the leftist peacenicks, Sheehan of the noisy Christian conservatives. Their guardians will monitor their behavior, keep them mostly indoors and out of sight, and forbid any public pronouncements or headline grabbing.

And if the left says that Miller isn't a big enough personage to exchange for Sheehan, we'll gladly throw in Pat Robertson.
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*Gingrich's takeover of the House was marked by a 100-day legislative program. We look forward to future Speakers pledging governmental turnarounds in 100 minutes, then seconds. (Gentle readers may recall Igor Stravinsky's remark about composer John Cage's "Four Minutes and Thirty-Three Seconds," a piece of that exact length in which a pianist sits at a piano and plays nothing: "I look forward to Mr. Cage attempting similar works of major length.") More seriously, we remind Ms. Pelosi that Jack Bauer and 24 are fantasy, not to be taken as models of real-life behavior.