The Rick Mercer Party. I'm serious.

Because who wouldn't go if they were invited to the Rick Mercer party? Come on, you would go. Don't lie to me.

The idea is this. Rick Mercer gets to pick 199 other sensible Canadians to join his party. While not being constrained to choose only one per riding, the idea is that he spreads them out from across the country. Maybe it should be like jury duty, you can't say no unless you have a really good reason. He gets to be Prime Minister, and he can choose his cabinet ministers and everything. He and his people get paid just like the current lot.

Think of it this way for a minute. How could it possibly be worse than what we have now? Rick knows people all over the country. Ordinary people, famous people, from all professions, all ages, all areas. Yes, he might pick a few who turn out to be nutbars, but how's that different than the current political parties? The current batch are essentially ideological hacks playing to their base, and that's getting dangerous.

We get them up and running, and we give them 4 years. Seriously. Four years and done. No pension, but well paid for the duration. (Maybe cut a deal for pension contributions going to the current employer, if any.) They can change the rules about elections, if they so choose, so the next one could be some form of proportional representation. They would have nothing to gain or lose by doing so.

The other 138 seats? Hold an election like usual, with each party putting forward a list of 138 people. Maybe break it down into regions so the list isn't so long. Voters pick their top 138 across all parties, and the ones with the most votes win. Still thinking this part through.

As you might imagine, my current read is this book.

It's wonderful, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love me a good rant, and I aspire to his brilliance.

But I'm thinking, how do we get Canadians more interested in the political process? I think teaching them (us) more about how the country is actually governed is a start. Teaching critical thinking to pick out the political lies. Somehow get the partisan poisonousness out. Maybe we should start a fund for an inventor to create a partisan-o-meter. It would need fuses, of course, to keep it from exploding when pointed at a Harper or a Kenney.

I simultaneously want more Canadians to vote, and have them pass a test to be able to vote. Yes, I know. Like, explain equalization in 500 words or less. Who pays for CPP? Should First Nations be created independent nations eligible for a UN seat, a province or territory like the current Canadian ones, or a municipality, and defend your answer.   What powers does the Governor General have? Maybe those are a bit of a stretch, but give the jury panel the ability to reward a good effort.

My thinking is that citizens should have to pass the same test that immigrants do to become citizens. I can't help thinking there has to be some way of harnessing the power of social media for good, to help people run the country, as opposed to being a rage machine. Maybe the internet is at the DC-3 stage of development, and we're still working out the finer points that would let us create a 747 or the Concorde.

I think more cameras in the House of Commons would be a good thing. We should be able to see our representatives at work, and if they behave like assholes, we should be able to have a feedback button.  Maybe we should implant our MP's with an electrode, and every thousand up votes gives them a good tingle, and every hundred down votes gives them a bad tingle, I'm thinking cattle prod in the genitals. Give them some skin in the game, as the saying goes. If you fail the partisan-o-meter or the citizenship classes, you don't get a feedback button.

As for the reading I mentioned here, the photos from ISS in the Scott Kelly book are wonderful! I love trying to figure what is in the photo before reading the caption, and I didn't succeed very often. Some of the photos are abstracts, essentially. Love those games with scale.

Deadwood of the Day