Saturday, December 06, 2003
Just a Horseman Short of an Apocalypse...
We often skoffed at our uncles and grandmothers when they would whine and moan about the state of the world.0 comments
Well, now it's official.
The world officially is going to hell in a handbasket.
The administration of George W. Bush has been compared often to the administration of Herbert Hoover.
I believe this is unfair.
To Mr. Hoover.
The administration this group most resembles is that of Warren G. Harding, the most corrupt, greedy and dangerous administration this country has ever endured until now.
This most recent legislative push by the Bush administration, and its hired help in Congress, has taken away any pretense as to where we find ourselves.
And, believe me, it's not pretty, folks.
- Sen. Max Baucus at work.
Here's a clipping from the Congressional Record. Sen. Baucus, one of the leading Republi-crats, along with Sens. Zell Miller of Georgia and John Breaux of Louisiana, is reported in it to have brazenly stated in the House/Senate conference while working on the Medicare bill, that he was there to do the bidding of the drug companies. As far as he was concerned: End of story.
- "ATTENTION, MEDICARE SHOPPERS!"
It's amazing, isn't it, that so many great men could fit into a single hip pocket?
- McClellan Urged To Decline Honor from Drug Industry Front Group
Just so you don't think think that it's merely some grubby politicians oink-ing up the place, you should know that our loyal, hardworking administrators throughout our governmental agencies are doing their part as well. Bush's FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan is also running around looking for a comfy hip pocket to call his own.
- But, most darkly, along with the ever-humorous Pork Roast in all three of the main bills the administration has pounded away on this month (again, see: Can Congress Be Embarrassed into Ending Wasteful Pork-Barrel Spending?), comes a series of episodes that are profoundly evil, and threaten our republic to its very core.
The overall pattern of this shows an unprecedented dismissal of the rule of law and/or tradition in how our government operates. The Republican hierarchy has given us a Vince Lombardi world: "Winning is the ONLY thing."
- On two core issues (eliminating Overtime Pay and the FCC Deregulation of Multi-Media Companies, both of which were trounced by overwhelming, bipartisan votes after massive public outcries), the administration and Republican Congressional leadership have been able to quietly ressurrect them in House/Senate Conference by slipping them into the Appropriations Bill, where they're hidden among all the Pork expenditures.
- Who Tried To Bribe Rep. Smith? and Robert Novak: GOP pulled no punches in struggle for Medicare bill
I have seen much in my lifetime. But never could I dream that I'd live to see members of Congress openly committing crimes on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
We now have the Republican Congressional Leadership's willingness to break the U.S. Penal Code, as well as break their stated Oaths of Office to get the vote that they felt they damned well had to have. Stealing bread to feed your children can get you shot. But, crime on the floor of the House is "just government," in their eyes.
A line we heard often during the Impeachment hearings against President Bill Clinton was, "How can I ever explain to my children that lying is bad when the president lied?" accompanied by much eye-rolling and mournful tones.
Today's updating is: "How can we teach our children the principles of the rule of law, when the very people making those laws rely on Felony Bribery and Felony Extortion to get their way?"
Umm, have you noticed by the way, that Bob Novack always seems to pop up just as the Republicans are breaking some federal law, or other? He also knows which "senior administration officials" broke federal law in outing a working CIA operative and putting this country and its brave covert agents in immediate, grave peril—all for political gain.
At the same time, Attorney General John Ashcroft refuses to either investigate the Smith Affair or recuse himself from the Palme Affair, and thereby fulfill his sworn duty to uphold the law as written for ALL the people of this country. Seeing merely to the interests of his cronies seems to be sufficient. If Janet Reno, Elliot Richardson, Ramsey Clark, or even John Mitchell tried to get away with this kind of political, self-serving hooey at the Justice Dept., they'd be run out of town on a rail. OK, well..., Mitchell did do this kind of self-serving hooey, and was run out of town on a rail. So, perhaps there's hope.
But, at what point does Trust become immutably broken?
When does the horrific concept of "If they can do it, then we can do it, too!" kick in? How long until we dissolve into chaos?
How long do they bully the American people, loot the U.S. Treasury and stifle public dissent until they have the very class warfare on their hands that they constantly accuse their critics of trying to forment?
How long will it be before that last Horseman shows up to make a foursome for Apocalypse Bridge?
In the name of our Founding Fathers, we must throw the bastards out!
Pop Quiz:
When's the last time that your representative in Congress,
or your Senator represented YOUR interests?
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posted by Gotham 12:59 PM
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