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Joseph de Maistre, a French lawyer, wrote in 1811, "Every nation gets the government it deserves."

I didn't know it was Maistre who said this before I looked it up on the Internet. I knew about the quote, just not to whom it was attributable. But given that my source IS the Internet, it's entirely possible that I still don't really know.

Never mind. The point is that I agree with the quote. We do get the kind of government we deserve, whether it's because we're willing to tolerate it or refuse to get involved.

For example, America is a democratic republic. This is good unless the point is to have a streamlined and economical system of government.

In America, everyone can speak their mind about anything. That's why in some political debates it costs more to blather endlessly about fixing something than it does to actually fix it.

There could be a way to resolve this. I saw it on TV Friday morning during a U.S. Senate argument against global warming.

In a presentation every bit as stiff and desiccated as a church talk, Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe took a snowball from a plastic bag.

"You know what this is? It's a snowball from just outside," Inhofe said, holding up the snowball and pointing toward outside. "So it's very, very cold outside. Very unseasonable."

After making his point about global warming being a crock because it was so cold in Washington, D.C., Inhofe lobbed the snowball underhand at either Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who looks a little bit like a polar bear, or an Inhofe staffer dressed like a penguin.

It wasn't what Inhofe was talking about that captured my attention, but rather the snowball. He was definitely onto something even if he didn't know it.

What if instead of a fluffy snowball gently tossed, Inhofe had made his point with a snowball compacted to the density of zirconium and then fast-pitched at the head of a defender of global warming?

Many, many of our political issues bogged in the quagmire of endless debates and committees would be quickly resolved with such a direct object lesson.

Global warming defenders might require a certain senator from Oklahoma to listen to their retort while sealed in a chamber filled with bovine flatulence.

The possibilities are endless. Greater emphasis on America's collapsed steel industry might be made by dropping a 100-pound anvil into the lap of every member of Congress.

No member of a legislative body anywhere in the country would want to draw out a debate when the next object lesson could seriously injure them.

Political issues would be decided faster; they would also be more entertaining to watch. I don't know about you but I'd pay good money to see Congress debate a crime bill while having to walk after dark to offices relocated in the worst part of D.C.

Rather than ignoring it now, Americans would want to get involved in politics if for no other reason than to see which state needed to hold an emergency election in order to replace a badly injured member of Congress. Win-win for the country.

If we had the courage, Utah could lead the nation in this kind of legislative process. Medical marijuana should be debated only after every member of the Legislature had gotten full-on baked. But first we'd have to give them a medical problem to see if it worked.

Object lesson legislating wouldn't be a perfect form of government, but it would be a quicker one. I think I've proved that in less than 600 words.

Robert Kirby can be reached at rkirby@sltrib.com or facebook.com/stillnotpatbagley. Find his past columns at http://www.sltrib.com/lifestyle/kirby/