The Pirate Party in Germany brought it up, and the idea has spread to a few American politicians as well - that government might be better as an online service than as a representative body. Parts of it, at least. Certainly we would still need an executive branch as a host of enforcers, but what of the legislative and judicial branch? Judgement of the law already relies on the input of a jury, everyday Joes and Janes like you and me, and legislation is expedited (theoretically) by a group…

Okay, so maybe you and I didn't personally go to Libya, pull an old, unarmed man into the street and shoot a hole through his head. But we clicked on the links to the videos, didn't we? Actually, I didn't. I refuse to celebrate and glorify killing, be it Gadhafi or Bin Ladin or anybody less notorious, whether I agree with their conduct or not.

Every generation these travails repeat themselves. When my mother was a child, it was Stalin and Mussolini dragged through the streets…