The Orange Revolution Withers

It was the perfect culmination to an underdog story five years ago. Standing before a joint session of Congress, his face still showing the scars of dioxin poisoning but glowing amid surpassing the struggle he and his people faced just months earlier, the newly elected president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, commended his American hosts for supporting the development of democracy in the former Soviet nation.

“Citizens of Ukraine gained their freedom due to their courage and support of friends and proponents of democracy throughout the world,” Yushchenko said, closing out his speech to Congressmen, several of whom chanting his name. “In these days I want to recall one of them, Pope John Paul II, who said, ‘Following the path of truth is sometimes difficult, but never impossible.’ We have embarked upon this road and will never step away from it.

“Together, we are many. Together, we are not defeated.”

Last month, Yushchenko received only 5.46 percent of the popular vote in the first round of the Presidential vote. This left his two longtime antagonists—the charismatic centre-right Yulia Tymoshenko and pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovich—to face off in last week's runoff, which Yanukovich won by 3.5 percent despite Tymoshenko vowing to challenge the result.

Yushchenko, despite being hailed as the champion of democracy in the face of an overbearing outside power, placed fifth. His presidency, mired by squabbles with on-and-off colleague Tymoshenko, two dissolutions of Parliament, and even appointing Yanukovich as his prime minister briefly in 2006, had jaded his fellow Orange revolutionaries, tired of the continual infighting and Yushchenko's presidency not meeting the high expectations of five years ago.

When Yushchenko leaves office soon, he will do so with his approval rating under ten percent.

Might not have been a good idea for Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser to invoke the Orange Revolution when he ran for mayor three years ago.

Seeking to mark a change in the way Missouri's most populous city conducted business, the city auditor wore orange ties on the campaign trail, creating a grassroots surge that allowed him to rise just above the crowded field in February 2007. With the endorsement of The Kansas City Star and rhetoric aimed at turning the recent rise of downtown tax abatements and neglect toward the city's neighborhoods, Funkhouser narrowly edged longtime city council member and community activist Alvin Brooks a month later.

But in near-similar fashion to the man whose campaign he idolized, Funkhouser has made his chances for re-election about as likely as snow sticking in Vancouver this month. From the get-go, his desire to run City Hall with ruthless efficiency was put into question with his decision to have his wife Gloria Squitiro serve as a "full-time volunteer" in an adjacent office. Squitiro would later be derided, and even sued on several occasions, as an obstruction to the city's operations. It didn't help Funkhouser either when he briefly accepted a hybrid car from a local Honda dealer, trading in the car he originally planed to use for city business in place of a private-hire contract that cost the city $160,000 annually.

Failing to vet Park board nominees, especially the only one from North of the River when his predecessor had three from that same region, and then joking about the nominee's controversial views on immigration behind her back after spending nearly seven months defending her place on the board. Squitiro's repeated media gaffes and so-so appearances on national television, two recall petitions squashed on technicalities, and now Kansas governor Mark Parkinson calling an increasing lack of citizen confidence in the city "a malaise of mediocrity", don't bode well for the Funk.

Although candidates for the 2011 mayoral election are slowly emerging, there lies a strong chance that no matter the size, the current incumbent will likely meet the same fate as his political idol: exiting the race after getting only five percent of the vote.

A Tale of Two Potential Recalls,

Also known as, “At least Gloria didn't find a way to get $20,000 in reimbursements from the city!”

Earlier today, the city clerk in Kansas City, Missouri announced that a committee seeking to recall Mayor Mark Funkhouser fell less than 150 signatures shy of the 16,950 required to trigger a November by-election. The committee that sought the recall pursued the recall, citing that Funkhouser had violated Missouri's nepotism law when he appointed his wife Gloria Squitiro as a full-time volunteer assistant to his office, continuing to do so when the city passed their own ordinance, however by way of meeting with staff at the city's main library. Despite being saved by 150 fans or otherwise apathetic, uninterested, unaware, or uncanvased suburbanites, hopefully the mayor will make amends with critical elements of the city populace before 2011 comes around. KC still has infrastructure to repair.

At least that money can't be sought to reimburse church donations, as the Telegraph today states that Labour MP Frank Cook did just that for a £5 made in 2006. No additional casualties today, but focus turns from new claim reports to the severance pay packages available for MPs that have announced they would not seek re-election. Currently, only one of the 13 MPs bowing out because of the scandal (Speaker Michael Martin) is actually leaving the House before the next election, again to occur no later than June 2010. The remaining 12 (several of whom were also involved in nepotism!) are expecting to sit idly in the back and go home, head secured between their tails, with a hefty retirement package. Unless, of course, they too make their way to the manors at either Chiltern Hundreds or Northstead, or their expense claims warrant criminal prosecution, or Parliament rips away those retirement pensions.

Not an option at the moment are the very petition-driven recalls that have been attempted in KC and also in Portland, Oregon. Citizens have circulated petitions that call on their MP to step down, but those are, legally, mere statements of public opinion. Were this an option, certainly this would be another tool in place to convince a government spiralling out of control and losing support to give up the ghost and put their track record before their constituents. Of course, a recall option would need specific guidelines to make sure that no frivolous reason, mass revolt or a sneaky way to bypass the manors of Chiltern Hundreds & Northstead triggers a recall vote. Already Tory leader David Cameron has suggested that the power of recall be part of sweeping reforms enacted for Parliament.

These remain unprecedented situations, and perhaps one can learn from the other: 1) recalls can work, and 2) nepotism doesn't bode too well in effective democracies. (*cough*Shull*cough*Moriarty*cough*cough*)