<p>The title of the "briefing and discussion" that was to be staged last Thursday in a wing of the U.S. Capitol in Washington was intriguing to anyone who has been following California's historic recall election.</p>
<p>"American Democracy's Uncertain Future -- And Is California an Unsettling Vision of Our Democratic Destiny" implied that learned, serious people were to look beyond the hoopla surrounding the recall and seek the deeper meaning of what was occurring in the state.</p>