Chlorophyll

Today, Hillary Clinton announced she was (forming a committee to investigate the possibility of) running for President.

Let me say, here at the dawn of 2007, that I think this is a catastrophic idea. Not because she's a "liberal Democrat." Not because she's a woman. Not because she claims to be from New York when she only meets the flimsiest definition of residency. Not even because she was pro-war when that was convenient, and anti-war now that that's convenient.

Because she's the immediate family of a former President. Down that road lies dynasty, which is the sure death of what little democracy we've ever had in this country. If we begin to conflate power with families, we might as well be a throwback to the great houses of Europe, which even Europe has relegated to the dustbin of history.

"But wait!" I hear you say. "We already have a resident in the White House who is in the immediate family of a former President!"

"Yes," I reply. "And tell me that hasn't been a catastrophe."

Think about it. Bush. Clinton. Bush again. Clinton again. There's a certain momentum built up, a certain redefining of the swing of the pendulum. But let's say it's not Jeb 2012 or 2016. At that point, we will have been softened up and our expectations beaten down so much that politics will be even more of a parody than it is today. Many people will simply sway in the breeze, looking for the next celebrity to line up behind. But just as predictably, many will look to the pre-fab opposition from the pre-fab opposition party. If you've lost track of which party I mean by opposition, that's OK -- I have, too.

Politics in this nation are already degraded enough. There's form over substance. There's the exclusion of "third" parties. There's gerrymandering. There's first-past-the-post. There's historical hurdles to the participation of some qualified voters. There's the lack of a paper trail in some districts. And then there's good ol' fashioned fraud.

The absolute bare minimum least the Democrats can do is not add dynastic dynamics into the already-sour mix.