Shocking News: Politicians are Corrupt!

We're not that naive, are we? No one actually believes that this is something new, right? No. Of course not. So it was no shock to me that a jury came back with only one guilty verdict out of 24 corruption charges for former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich (Blah-GOY-of-itch). I was also not surprised to discover that Congressman Charlie Rangel of New York and Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California are dirty...filthy, even. Let's not forget William Jefferson, the Representative of Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District, who was indicted on 16 charges of corruption. Really? A politician from New Orleans? How shocking! We all know, or at least, I think most of us do, that this is just the way it is for career politicians. Whether you're an elephant or a donkey, there is probably some horse trading and scapegoating going on. Power. Money. Prestige. The focus is on holding on to it and acquiring more of it, and hopefully keeping your constituents just happy enough with pork to keep you from having to get a real job. I think most of us get that. So why do we keep electing these crooks? Because there's no alternative, there's the Republican crook, or the Democrat crook. Getting into politics at all means having to grease palms, make backroom deals, take money from shady people in exchange for political favors, and in other ways sell your soul. If you really want to get into office, you need to have money, lots of it, and that's just to get your name out there. Once a person is elected, they become "our guy," he has name recognition, and so even though the legislature has an approval rating of 16%, well, we like "our guy," so we'll keep on voting them in even if we know for a fact they are bigger crooks than Al Capone. People may be really disgusted with Blagojevich right now, but I think it's more for embarrassing the state of Illinois than any real disbelief that he's done anything more criminal than his predecessors. We all know this stuff goes on. Heck, he may even run for office again and win. If Marion Berry can do it, why not Blago? So what's the solution? How do we get decent people in office who actually want to represent the people? It's simple. Term limits. I know, I know, some of you are saying, "but if I like 'my guy,' if he's doing a good job, I should be able to vote him in no matter how many times he's served." Really? Then why don't we still have President Clinton? Because of the 22nd Amendment, that's why. Because we don't want to have a "president for life." We shouldn't have these career politicians like Kennedy, or Byrd, or Thurman, who don't leave the Capitol until they're carried out in a casket. There's just too much power at stake, and when they stay there too long, they forget that the power belongs to us, not them, and they all begin to abuse it in one way or another. You will do your district, your state, a greater service by sending a citizen representative to the Capitol. Send your plumber, not your lawyer. If we enact term limits, if we decide to send actual representatives of the people rather than people who do just enough to get elected every few cycles, then maybe one day it actually will be shocking to hear of an indictment.
The picture was stolen from rrstar.com

The Hagia Sophia of Manhattan

As a person who believes very strongly in the right to private property and the right to worship, the issue of "the ground zero mosque" has been a difficult one for me. The simplest way to express my frustration is this; I hate it, but there's nothing we can do about it. Building a mega-mosque so close to the site where so many innocent people were killed for jihad is more than just insensitive, it is a ball of spit right in America's already black eye. We know why they want to build it, and many Americans are broken-hearted and angry at the thought of a huge Muslim victory flag being placed so near the spot that even the president, who came out in support of the mosque, acknowledged is "hallowed ground." Yes, as long as they own the property and do not break the law, they can build just about anything they want there. They can tear down the existing structure and put up a statue of Ronald McDonald, if they want to. And since this is America, they can go there and pray to God, Allah, the Devil, or even Whitney Houston...it's a free country. But if Islam is truly a religion of peace, if they truly wish to foster understanding and build bridges, and all of that other touchy-feely crap, they ought to understand exactly why so many Americans, particularly New Yorkers, are so strongly against it. They should hear the people, some shouting, some crying, and say to themselves, "you know, there are lots of places to build in New York...we don't need to cause more pain here." They would decide, out of consideration, to build somewhere else. It would be the decent and sensitive thing to do. As one protester's sign read, "If you care, build it elsewhere." We don't want to stop them from worshipping. We just don't want them to do it on our loved ones' graves. But they already know all of this. They don't care. And we know why they want to build it there. Oh, it's a matter of principle, sure, but not an American principle. It's not about freedom of religion or private property rights. This mosque is intended to be not only a victory flag, but a weapon, a means to divide us further, to get the warm and fuzzy liberals to fight with the hard and scaly conservatives. We'll fight each other, throwing out words like "racist" and "traitor" and the mosque will go up. Some idiot nut jobs will try to burn the place down and, as the FDNY is doing their jobs putting out the flames, everyone will be tripping over each other to apologize for it, and the Imams will be laughing at us. They are using our own high-minded ideals against us. They have every right to build it, and we have no right to stop them. But if they really wanted to show us what a non-threatening place this is, they could build a memorial to the victims of September 11, 2001 with a plaque displayed denouncing those murders. Or they could build a true "community" center for everyone, of all faiths, Jew, christian, Muslim, Hindu, to pray and reflect.Instead, they are like a schoolyard pest waving their arms around us, making funny faces, yelling, "I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you!" I hate it. But there's nothing we can do about it. Isn't that sick?

Ugh! (sigh) Stupid Hippies...

I'm so sick to my stomach of the "green" crowd, I can't even come up with a title for this post without using very bad words. Four letter words. Anyway...

There's an article online today on yahoo.com by "environmental journalist" Lori Bongiorno entitled, "Signs of a Green Hypocrite." Not being one of the sheep who buy into the religion of global warming, I was pulled in by the title of the article. I was expecting to read a scathing article on the hypocrisy of people like Al Gore who burn millions of tons of fuel travelling the globe to tell us how we're destroying the planet with our SUVs. Instead, I got...well, here's one of the signs of a "green hypocrite," according to Lori Bongiorno.

"Carries reusable grocery bags, but fills them up with bottled water and packaged junk. What you put into your reusable grocery bag is far more important than the bag itself. It's better to carry a plastic bag and fill it up with locally grown fruits and veggies then to tote around an eco-friendly sack filled with packaged foods and drinks that have been shipped thousands of miles."

What!?!? It's just never enough for these people! "You're just not green enough! I'm greener than you are! You're not doing enough for the planet!" You people make me want to puke. By the way, not to get too far off topic, here, but have you never heard of a truck farmer? How the hell do you think people in Chicago get "fresh fruits and veggies" in the middle of freaking February? Oil! Lots and lots of refined petroleum, like what those PLASTIC BAGS are made of! But getting back to my original rant here, I'll say what I posted in the comments section of the article right here.
Who the hell are any of you to criticize anyone for any of the choices they make, "green" or not? I mean, is this all you do, sit around wringing your hands over the plastic water bottle in some other hippie's cloth bag? Get a life, and stay out of everyone elses'! Seriously. You're going to harp on someone because they drive a Prius, but they don't carpool? The other eco-nuts aren't as good and pure as you because they buy organic vegetables but still eat meat? I guess the world just won't be perfect until everyone acts just like you, huh? Maybe I should poop outside on the lawn and stop wasting all of that precious water in my toilette, would that be "green" enough for you?
Now, I know the point of the article was probably meant to be a series of friendly suggestions designed to get us all doing more than we are, but if that is the author's intent, why call it, "Signs of a Green Hypocrite?" No, her intent was to stick her pointy little fingers in our collective chests and mock people who think they are making a difference but who are really only kidding themselves in her eyes. It's the same as laughing at the fat guy who orders a diet coke with his greasy Big Mac and supersized fries. Hey, Lori. Guess what? You're ALL wasting your time. The Earth will continue to orbit the sun billions of years after my gas-guzzling car has rusted away. Why don't you help combat global warming by keeping your mouth shut instead of popping off with all of that hot air?

The article I'm mocking can be found at
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/146/signs-of-a-green-hypocrite.html

I robbed the picture from www.thegreatilluminator.com

Want to give me a piece of your mind? Post a comment. If you have a mind to.