First of all, let me state up front that I am not a political person. I was extremely interested in the American Presidency when I was in fifth grade - even had a collection of little plastic statues of all the presidents, and of course, enthralled my classmates with a "lecture" on the subject. To all of you who still live in the area, a very belated apology for that, and hope I didn't bore you TOO much.

Anyway, my interest in Presidents - and in politics in general - has waned through the years. I vote in every election, but have never joined a political party - and never want to, so please don't try to recruit me. As a neutral member of the Third Estate, it's best that I remain neutral anyway.

All this is a preamble to a thought I had the other day (I get one of those at least once a year). It occurred to me - and yes, I am a little slow sometimes - that when George W. Bush leaves office on January 20, 2009, the United States will have had either a Bush or a Clinton in the White House for twenty consecutive years! As Yogi Berra used to say "You could look it up!"

Taking this a step further... if Hillary Rodham Clinton receives the Democratic nomination in 2008, and is elected President, the Bush/Clinton regime will continue for at least four more years, if not eight. If Jeb Bush succeeds Mrs. Clinton...

I looked up the word "oligarchy" in the dictionary, and found the following definition:

"a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution... a state governed by such a group... government by such a group."

I am neither endorsing nor disapproving any particular candidate here, I just wondered if our United States democracy has become a two-headed oligarchy over the last two decades.