Maybe politics should be more like jury duty?

Jazz over at Running Scared stumbled on to this LTE, with an ingenious solution to corrupt government.

David Rossie's May 21 column contrasting "honest, representative government" with the sorry bunch of politicians trying to get elected got me thinking.

No politician can be representative of me because I'm not a politician. Only people like me and the rest of us can represent us. Politicians can only be representative of politicians.

Here in Tarrant County, there are 10 qualifications required to be a juror. There are three qualifications required to be president. As jurors, we are deemed qualified to make decisions about life and death, terms of imprisonment, how much this party owes that party. And we are required to serve our government as jurors on pain of punishment should we refuse.

So, we would get truly representative government -- and more qualified representatives -- if we fill all elective offices with people picked at random from the jury rolls.

You would get a summons, just like one for jury duty: "You are hereby summoned to appear at the White House (insert date) to serve your required four-year term as president."

No more campaign fund corruption, no more listening to interminable blather. Just honest, representative government.

Ed Martin

Fort Worth, Texas


The only drawback is this: would-be politicians thinking up lame excuses to get out of service. Not unlike what jurors do all the time.

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