Posted by
Scottie on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 8:07:05 PM
"Politics: from the latin word poly, meaning many; and ticks, meaning blood sucking parasites." -- PJ O'Rourke
Something is really starting to reek in electoral politics. I must admit I’m completely baffled by its source, but it remains nevertheless. Could someone please explain to me how it is we keep electing the dolts in Congress? With an approval rating approaching the IQ of a garden slug, we’ve not only collectively preserved the status quo, we’ve actually added to the problem significantly. Let’s review some of the more egregious examples, shall we?
John “Abscam” Murtha (D) was reelected! How on earth did that happen? His corruption has been well known since the ABSCAM sting caught him contemplating accepting a bribe on tape. That alone should have been the end of his career at taxpayer’s expense, but no. Then he publicly condemned fellow Marines as “Cold Blooded Murders” on national television. All of the accused Marines have been acquitted and one of them is suing Mr. Murtha for defamation of character. Then this bastion of public service actually called his constituents racists and followed that up calling them rednecks to boot. And yet this man was reelected. Unbelievable!
Ted “Bridge to Nowhere” Stevens (R) was nearly reelected despite his recent conviction on multiple felonies. Not just run of the mill felonies like drunk driving or robbing banks; felonies related to abuse of his official office! In spite of his obvious lack of integrity, the party backed him and he was nearly reelected. Unbelievable!
The good folks in Minnesota are working feverishly to count and recount Al Frankin, the biggest caricature of an idiotic politician since Jessie “The Body” Ventura became the governor of that state, into office. Unbelievable!
Marion Barry was caught on tape smoking crack with a prostitute and was reelected AFTER serving prison time. Unbelievable!
Ray “Chocolate City” Nagin utterly failed his constituents during the Katrina disaster, made clearly racist remarks publicly, and was returned to his mayoral office by the voters of New Orleans. Unbelievable!
William “Cold Cash” Jefferson was caught red handed with a $90K cash bribe in the freezer of his home and was returned to office by a 57%/43% margin. Unbelievable!
How is it possible for democracy to survive if we keep supporting, enabling, and most importantly reelecting obvious rogues to office? How is it possible for people of this ilk to retain the support of honest men? Have we all become so inured to political criminality we just ignore it? Unbelievable!
Scottie