You are quick to testify that America was a transcendental idea in the 1776 world of totalitarian dictatorships. The Founders were brilliant. Their homage to individual liberty was divine afflatus. The separation of powers was bedrock common sense, designed to prohibit villainy and infidelity. But these great men miscalculated.  Thinking that time and experience could only elevate knowledge and wisdom, they couldn’t envision the unthinkable – that 230 years later ignorance would sweep the fruited plain like the Mexican drug parade into Arizona. And even worse, that corruption would erode the foundations of America’s virtue like bionic termites with an attitude. You know the Founders weren’t naive. Painstakingly, they drafted checks and balances to protect the people from tyranny.  They called on Congress to behave as part-time public servants “of the people, by the people and for the people.” So much for best-laid plans.  Today, the road to Congress is paved with gold and lifetime wealth.  “Public service” is a lucrative career. Congress and its supporting bureaucracy are Masters. The People are servants. The Founders didn’t conceive the rise of this malignancy – a protracted Congressional incumbency. Too bad. Now you’re stuck with it. You witness the malignancy at work. It’s there, in the open, arrogantly going about its business, ruthless. But only today did you realize how incumbency eviscerates The Constitution and basic principles of liberty. Look at one notable example. The people of the Massachusetts’s 4th congressional district have elected Newton’s Barney Frank to inhabit the halls of Congress since 1981 – for those mathematically challenged, about 30 years. Three decades. Time enough to have godlike power, because you see, incumbency is everything. In Frankie’s case, in 2007, he became chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Big Kahuna. Lord of securities, insurance, banking, and housing. Undeniably, one of the most powerful members of Congress. Bow. Scrape. Only this is the cretin who, with Chuck Schumer, brought down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to unleash the now infamous housing tsunami and eventual financial meltdown. Nice job, Frankie. Your financial malfeasance and duplicity fits right in with your practice of accepting and not reporting personal gifts and perks, and fixing parking tickets for a male prostitute who was running a brothel out of your Dupont Circle condominium.  This tale of incompetence and immorality can have only one outcome. You guessed it, Matilda. The people of the 4th district – American citizens – elected him to yet another term. Good show, citizens. Give yourselves a gold star for blind loyalty, and take solace that you have many comrades in many other congressional districts who, like you, continuously exercise their superior intellect. Yes, dear hearts, the Founders overestimated the Balance of Powers. They could not comprehend that one congressman from one district could impact, on the most personal level, the lives of millions of Americans. And herein lies the evil of incumbency – a “few” people in one district – with their particular prejudice and self interest – control, not only the lives of millions of souls, but also the state of the nation itself. Unrestricted incumbency is a virulent cancer. Chemo won’t work. Time to cut it out.  But don’t hold your breath. One of the surgeons is Frankie.