Department of Extortion

If you don't give me a swimming pool in my home legislative district, I'll vote against your health bill.
If you don't soften your stance towards American casino ownership, we'll boycott your sugar production.
If you don't change your currency value, we'll impose tariffs on your products.
And the indirect approach: if you don't let us raise your taxes the economy will collapse, the social security system will collapse, the housing market will collapse.....on and on and..
And now..If you don't give up on your mosque, we'll burn your sacred books.

It seems the public has taken a new step in its effort to manage its problems: They have turned to their political experts for example. After years of observing governmental function--the horse-trading, threats and compromises--the people have taken extortion into their own hands.

So far it has been a messy experiment. A man with a religious community of fifty people has dominated the news and thinking, or as much thinking as extortion will allow. It seems that he--and the news observers--actually believe that this is a legitimate negotiating technique. And why not? We see it in other fields all the time. The union extorts the bosses with the threat of a strike. The bosses extort the union with the threat of bankruptcy or outsourcing. The politician extort the voter with the threat of more or less programs. Only the politician is relatively safe from extortion because, even if voted out, he has a plush retirement package to fall back on. And there is always "consulting".

One can worry, though, about the use of these new tools among the simple voting folk. Extortion, like a fast car or a weapon, should be kept out of the hands of children. Politicians have a lot of experience and can be relied upon to do this type of thing well. Perhaps the politicians should take control of this outbreak right away and regulate it, perhaps through a new Extortion Czar or cabinet position. Like the warnings on auto ads, these things should be left to experts; do not try this at home.

Note to wife: If I can't have spaghetti for dinner tonight, I'll kill the dog.