According to legend, in 333 BC, while on his way to conquer the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great stopped at Gordion, where he learned about a special wagon that had its pole tied to the wagon body with an intricate knot. A prophecy had foretold that whoever could unfasten the knot would go on to rule over Asia. Alexander tried to unfasten the knot, but when he was unable to do so, he drew his sword and cut right through it.

As a bit of a political junkie, I track the pundits somewhat religiously, especially during what has become known as the "Silly Season" when every Tom, Dick and Harriet stands for public office. As I grow older and more cynical, it appears to me that the Silly Season gets longer and longer every year, until, like a snake swallowing its tail, there seems to be no end. Although the White House was not on the ballot this week, the presidential contenders were apparent in gay profusion, no matter where you turned.

In Alaska, where we are ostensibly in the midst of a fiscal crisis, the contention between the legislative and executive branches has taken on a life of its own, with nary a peep about how the candidates seeking election/re-election to the State House and Senate will pull Alaska's chestnuts out of the fire. On the one hand, they pledge to adhere to their promises to protect the Permanent Fund Dividend; and, on the other hand, they pledge to work together.

From the 30,000-foot level, it seems incredible that a state with a permanent fund that runs to the tens of billions of dollars and a marketable real estate package that is larger than the entire State of California is squabbling over whether to impose a tax of general application or shut down essential services. What is apparent, however, is that reckless inattention to plebian functions may result in deep, if not permanent, damage to the state, as a whole.

The agency that I am closest to is the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. DNR has a huge role in providing the revenue for the operating budget, yet by all reports, it is struggling to perform its basic functions with a reduced staff. Without wishing to imply that the work is not being properly done, there does seem to be a risk that the rubber band is being stretched too far.

Inferentially, other agencies of the state are in a similar mode. If permits, for instance, are delayed due to staff workloads, that might have tremendous financial impact on the economics of private transactions. In a world in which government deference is already required, the concept of an agency too overwhelmed to perform it basic functions is a worry.

It is always risky to extrapolate from the specific to the general; however, to a lesser or greater extent, the federal government is likewise up to its ears in micromanaging required services and absorbing budgetary cuts. Rather than promoting efficiency, the result is the delay or possibly the denial of those services. Like the Gordion Knot, the conundrum of governing the state as well as the nation is easy to understand but difficult to unravel.

Nationally, the presidential contenders offer the same choice to the electorate that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were offered in the film by the same name when pursued by law enforcement officers to the brink of a cliff where they jumped into the river below. As they jumped, Sundance announced that he could not swim, and Butch replied that it didn't matter because the fall would kill them both, anyway.

As voters, it seems that we are on the edge of that same cliff. We can either jump or succumb to a state government and a federal government that will each restrain us and, consequently, deny us the freedom to pursue our objectives. The only hope we have is for an Alexander to come along. Yet somehow, when it comes to the Oval Office, I just cannot conceive of attaching the sobriquet "the Great" to a President Donald (or, for that matter, a President Hillary). With regard to the state government, we don't even have that faint hope.

It seems the best we can look forward to, whether for our state or our country, is to not die when we hit the water.