The Nomenklatura and the Narod

I contacted my senator and representative, through e-mail, about the various goings on in the capitol. I still haven't heard from my representative, which bugs me because you usually get something back from him pretty quick. But I have heard from my senator:

Thank you for contacting me. I would like to respond to you, but in order to do so, you must send your message to me through my web page: http://cleland.senate.gov/

Thank you,

Max Cleland
United States Senator

What I'd said was that the Congress should stand fast and handle the anthrax scare in the same way they were asking the American people. Do your job, take your antibiotics and get on with the mission.

What I got back was "Thank you for spamming me but I won't listen to you unless you do it my way." Well I did it their way and told Max to kiss my fat, hairy… I guess I can get spam but he's too important to have a staffer (and half way decent filters) sort the stuff out. He's a great big guy with a really important job and I'm a little nobody. He's nomenklatura and I'm narod.

In the former Soviet Union, the movers and the shakers, the commissars and the politburo members, were referred to as the "nomenklatura", basically "whose who have a name." The rest of the powerless mob was referred to as the "narod", "the faceless masses." When it came to "sacrifice" it was the job of the narod while the nomenklatura sacrificed nothing. In the famines the nomenklatura ate. The nomenklatura had western appliances and good clothes and ample consumer goods. The narod had nothing and no one cared. As far as I can determine, the US Congress has decided that they are the nomenklatura and we are the narod. The nomenklatura can take off from work when there's the slightest chance of an anthrax infection, but the narod has to stay at its post. The nomenklatura get immediate testing and treatment, the narod are "whenever we can get there."

I think it's time for all of us to contact our senators and representatives and remind them that we are not the narod and they are not the nomenklatura and we expect them to take exactly the same risks we are taking. Fly commercial , not private jets (Senator "I don't have to stop for that roadblock" take note here.) Stand your post, I don't care if you think you're a "special target." In this war we are all special targets, you're just a tad more obvious. Welcome to why we pay you such a huge frigging salary. Earn it.

There is a term, The Birkenhead Drill, which is almost unknown. Some, very few I'm sure, remember it as "women and children first." It comes from the sinking of a troopship, the HMS Birkenhead, which had on board a regiment of British soldiers with their officer's wives and children. When it encountered difficulties and started to sink, there were insufficient boats for all on board. The commanding officer of the regiment called his men on deck and held them at attention until all the boats had been loaded with the women and children. And only then were a few of the junior soldiers permitted to board. Not one officer boarded the boats. They stood at attention until they were sucked under by the ship. "To stand and be still to the Birkenhead drill."

That was leadership, folks. They knew the price of command, they knew why they were getting paid the big bucks. I say to ALL of our elected officials: Learn to command or get the heck out of office.

Because the narod didn't have a vote.