Reason #3: Lifetime Leeches
The “lifetime politician” is a uniquely 20th century phenomenon.
Not long ago, I watched Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas flogging his new autobiography on television. The program included footage of his confirmation hearings from almost twenty years ago and I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw the senators questioning him. The whole gang was there: Joe Biden, Arlen Specter, Pat Leahy, Orrin Hatch.
“Good God!” I said to myself. “All those dinosaurs are still in office!”
Congressmen, especially senators, treat their elected offices like lifetime appointments. Over the years, they grow such thick roots around their seats, it would take a keg of dynamite to blow them out.
The “lifetime politician” is a uniquely 20th century phenomenon. Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and other founding fathers envisioned politics as a temporary “public service” vocation, something to do for a limited period before returning to private life. Hoping to bring back that kind of “public servant” ethos to government, dozens of states passed laws that capped the amount of time a politician could camp out in office. But unfortunately, careerist pols found a way around the new restrictions. They simply began to play “musical offices,” switching from one seat of power to another.
Mike Honda is a good example of a government “lifer.” For more than a quarter of a century, he’s been trading one office for another, climbing the political ladder from the local to the state and finally to the federal level. Along the way, he’s perfected the art of “dialing for dollars,” but he’s learned precious little about guiding our country in the right direction.
How many politicians have never had another career?
- 174 House Members and 32 Senators list their primary occupations as “Politics / Public Service”
- At least 65 of the 100 Senators have been involved in elected politics for at least 20 years.
- At least 19 out of the 100 current Senators are “career politicians, having pursued no other career for any significant amount of time.”
- Representative John Dingell (DMI) has the longest consecutive service of any Member of the 110th Congress at 51 years.
- At 48 years and counting, Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) has served longer than any other Senator in history. Before him, his father Senator Harry F. Byrd (D-VA) served 32 years, from 1933 to 1965. All told, Byrds have been flying around the senate a combined 80 years.
- Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) is the current Republican Senator with the longest Senate service at 38 years.
There are so many old politicians that they should have retired long ago. Public service should be a “part-time” position. We need fresh blood to replace the incumbents who shouldn’t be serving more than what is required and keep on jumping from one position to another. I know that I’m beating around a dead horse but we need to realize the fact that we have placed these people here.
Don’t get me started on some of the politicians that you’ve listed. Mike Honda is one of the many representatives that supported the bailout bill, Senator Byrd is the pork king of porker projects and Ted Stevens involvement in corruption that has led him to trial that ended with a guilty verdict.
We have to do something about it.
I’m a Dem. My representative is Diane Feinstein (Republican Lite). She doesn’t even bother to campaign. It’s like, “Hey, this seat is mine.” I don’t even bother to contact her anymore. Check out the real story on her in “Project Censored.” She says she’s pro-choice, pro-gay, etc. and women and gays fall for her BS. She knows that she can talk about all the rights she want since she’s rubber stamped all Bush initiative to shred the Consitution.
I never liked Feinstein, she was for the bailout and doesn’t like tax reform. What’s worse, I heard that she may be running for Governor. No way! I would like to see a libertarian in office and try to get rid of our $15 billion debt.
Your are so right about everything. I will keep reading your articles to stay informed and try to do my best when voting.
The whole concept of Excellence seems bereft in our world today. Ditto Patriotism. I just got out of the hospital. The first nurse rather than being inconvienced by following the doctors orders, was more interested in surfing the net and gossiping with the gals.
Her neglect to follow the doctors orders meant two extra unessarry days of suffering for me and a repeat of a procedure that is painful. I do not like fat people. Especially in Healthcare,. Of all people they should know better than to let themsellves get fat.. My 1st nurse was a sweat hog. No glandular problems. Just a paycheck of some relitive size and letting her life outside the hospital go to crap.No expression of excellence on her part.
On the onside, she has no time to put down the beer and chips and go to a gym for an hour a day.
Of devoloped nations our healthcare system is last. Full of people like those in Congress. That do not serve their constituants well.Just themselves and their lapdogs.
The people have found out after assurances from Congress, that we could read the deal ( Contract ) with the banks and our money. Instead all that is available is a heavaliy redacted contract. With the meat blacked out. Our contract, that we were lied to about. No one does a thing about this glaring breach of the Contract and Contract Law.
Now we learn, the banks did not have to sell their jets, planes and yachts. Yet they recieved so much more money than our Automakers. Who had to sell their jets and planes. Duh. Automakers from a cost benifit analysis do need their jets to get to multi- million dollar Fleet Sales meetings. It was all about Union Busting with the Automakers.
We have now learned that before Obama was elected and Sworn In as President, that Bush let those who Screwed the Poocht. Take 18.1 billion bucks out of the redacted contract in Bonus money. Why were they not fired for such grand failures. As they would be in most companies in a heartbeat.
Now Americans face a Bill that would allow a President, four or more terms in office. With vote caging, computer manipulation and such. We could have a fascist corporate dictator for 16 or perhaps more years. ( HR 445 )
The nation is one state and key votes away from approving another Continental
Congress.
Say good bye to America, our Constitution and Bill of Rights, That is already
illegally emasculated.
The corporate/ military Supreme Commanders, oh I mean Supreme Court. All nine Justices, gutted the Fourth Amendment further last week, by allowing people with badges to search someone. If they felt or thought they could be a threat. Very subjective. Cop ” Guy and girl gave me a funny feeling. So I searched them. They had nothing but held their noses up at my search.So I arrested them after tasering them for interfering in a police action”.
This will happen now.It is very bad now. Over a million people on the terror no fly list. Mostly dissidents, democrats, studants and journalists. Yet no arrests of real terrorists have occured. Creeping fascism.
We send billions to Isreal, so they can commit genocide in Gaza, as the USA does on people they object to. Money that could be well spent on raises for teachers and the Disabled.
Jefferson and other Founders warned us of the unnessary cost in money, blood and problems of Foriegn Entanglements. Do our leaders of today listen to the Founders or Ike. NOOO !!. Now look at where we are.Endless imperialistic wars have gotten us nothing, but sin, war crimminals or pain if you prefer.Despised by most people of the Earth. For good reason too.
While poppy grows in Afganistan at record heights to produce herion. Obama wants a surge against the Taliban. Yet there is no mention of stopping poopy cultivation. Replacing it with schools of bricks and mortar and fields of replacemement crops or wind and solar farms. Idiot !!
19 million homes are empty, unemployment is at 9% (officially,yea sure ) and between September of 2008 and November of 2008, 2 trillion dollars left the Fed for banks unknown. Done in a stealth mode.Who needs the people’s approval, whose money it is. Or the sluts in Congress to take it to news outlets.
Why do we need 700+ bases overseas? Cause we think we do. Well that money is better spent in the light at home.
We have over 7000 active nukes. No one will screw with us for long if we had the will. Lets get the hell out of all these occupied nations by us.We will have less enemies and antipathy aimed at us. We have friends right now, only because we have muscle.
I do not give a rats ass about the archaic oil companies, Isreal, Arabs or Persians. Unless they cross the sea and mess with us. in one hour their nations would be glass, if they messed with us.
We should partner with Russia. They have terrorist problems and so do we. Neither can fight one another. So lets partner. We consume and they want fo also and have vast untapped natural resourses.I like Russia. Within bounds.They could be great friends of ours. Along with many other nations that presently despise us.
My back hurts. PEACE, WILDCAT
I just spent the last 36 hours in bed away from the Net. I filled my needs for news and politics by listening to Talk Radio.I do believe after listening to the panalopy of voices, that drug addled,cruel and prima facie idiot and DUMB. Rush Limbaugh is on his last legs. He was even questioning, his relevance in todays world.
He can’t leave the airways soon enough. He is the parrell of today’s Senator Joe McCarthy of the fifties. Lies, obfuscation, bombastic and playing into people’s fears at the right moment. Have left the nation a much more poor place to discuss intelligently political thought and discourse. Rumor also has it that Bernie Madoff, got lots of his money.
The day after the Madoff story broke, Rush was not on air. I hope he got taken for every dime. His diatribes damaged the nation and certain people greatly. He didn’t discuss issues. He was a bloat of fearmongering. Like Hannity, Beck, Coultier and others of the Dumb Americans down ilk.
Unfortuatelly these pinheads raised a lot of money for bad causes and canidates.
They call themselves Christians. That could not be farther from the truth. They are ideologes and money worshipers.They slave for Corporate Masters. The way they talk about life and death of others and make fun of intelligent people. Would be appallling to the Christ I know. Historically or spiritually.
Speaking of Christ. Why was Christ in a Constitutional, secular goverment, in the Bush White House? This is a time when I wish I had a research assistant. So I use all the correct names. But read on, you will get my point.
Isn’ t there a Seperation of Church and State clause in our Founding Documents.
Lots and lots of court cases affirming seperation of Church and State. That poll after poll shows americans overwhelmingly support that seperation.
Nonetheless, while my personal jury is still out on Obama. I have come to learn that he also has very quietly allowed a christian liason office to share space in the White House.
No doubt to show a vital demographic, that he is a good christian and needs a rep. of theirs close at hand. To dial for dollars and help lobby for legislation.Clearly Unconstitutional.
I love my Christ and I know he takes no offense at me wanting him out of the Operations of the Peoples House.I want Obama to show the liason the door.
Reiligion has no place in the running of our nation. Carry in your heart what you must.But do not carry it in the doors of goverment. We left Europe in order to have a safe place where the two could be safely seperated.
The primary season was another time and place where the seperation of church and state was not observed. It was sickening that in both parties, at the early debates. The top three or four front runners had to Declare on National TV : “That Christ is My Lord and Savior.”
Bet that made the Blasphemious group Focus on the Family happy.
Now how on God’s green earth can Christ be your Lord and Savior, when a big part of a presidents job is fighting Imperialistic Wars. Killing innocents and sending our young to their maiming and death.
I know God said : “Thou Shallnot Kill”
It is an imperfect world, filled with evil people. Some of whom must die.
But to witness for Christ on National TV for a job that a lot of killing goes with it. Is a bit much for me.
Proves the point : Seperation of Church and State in the USA is of paramount importance.
I am going back to bed. SEE YA, WILDCAT
HOWDY SAILORS :
RE : Instructions. Read. Very important and critical to all Patriots, IAC followers, those Mad as Hell. Also anyone not already having had their mind taken over by an alien lifeform.The evil, anti-constitutional, drug addled and putrid smelling aliens often go by the name of Ditto Heads, Coultier, Hannity, Medvid, Beck and other felonious names.
What are politicians most afraid of other than sitting next to Rush Limbaugh after a 9 course meal ?
Voters, Citizens, Activists and organized, knowlegable people. Who get off their duff. Fight to the death intellectualy, through the press, letters, phone calls and e-mails. Contacting their elected officals in droves on an issue and regularly.
Some examples of how terrified Lifetime Leeches are of ” We The People ”
At the Republican Convention this past summer, party operatives had the local police enter houses, Without warrants or Probable Cause and hold convention protesters at gun point, take peoples computers, phones,PDA’s and other personal property by innummerable violations of the Constitution, before the convention offically even started..
The ACLU is presently litigating these matters. People held without cause and surrender of property without lawful cause. Only the sophistry of the terrified tyrannious Republican party’s Brown Shirts were able to get police to hold college kids who made lawful signs of protest, to appear outside the Convention.Held at automatic gunpoint fire. In their lawfully occupied abodes and having broken no laws.
Many of us have seen on TV (rarely), on You Tube, Alex Jones site,Steve Quayles site, Blacklisted News and elsewhere. Videos of police committing assault on lawfully gathered protesters.A most common practice was for a police officer (or perhaps really a CIA agent), body slam a passing bicyclist. Who of course was hurt and sometimes badly.For doing nothing other than exercising their lungs. They were hurt and arrested.For nothing and no foul or crime.
Agent provacators sifted through the crowd to agitate police, so the police could storm, taser, arrest and injure protesters with unreasonably fearful force. Arrest whomever they could get their grubby mitts on.
I watched live, as a harmlesss middle aged women begin to ask the cops some questions on where they could locate Free Speech Zones to set up.She was not 10 seconds into her questions, when 4 thugs grabbed her and whisked her away at light speed. I guess she wasn’t in a Free Question Zone.Plus being menopausal made her a real threat. To her husband.
Republican operatives prior to the convention whipped Minneapolis-St Paul police into a false, fearful, Groupthink frenzy, that the cellphones,signs and laptops of protesters were a direct threat to publc and convention goers safety.
That this convention was going to go the way of the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention. Nothing could have been further from the truth.But the police and Mayor bought into the Republican Operatives fearmongering of Republican protesters.
Todays protesters are hamsters, compared to the way protesters went for the Anti-War and Impeach Nixon rallies. Further the number of protesters back then was measured in the hundreds of thousands. Not in a few hundred or couple of thousands.
We meant buinesss. There was no way for the Capital Police and Guardsmen to control us. We outnumbered them by thousands to one and we were passionatlly right. The War ended and Tricky Dicky was thrown from office by a group of Republican leaders from the House and Senate.We scared the living shit out of elected officals. The police, who we were not in conflict with, just watched from their cars and motorcycles in stunned disbelief at the force of democracy really in action.
A couple of years ago there was a Bill before the House that 2 weeks before a formal vote was expected to pass by 415 Yea’s and 20 Nay’s or thereabouts.
Of late legislation in particular is seemingly responding only to corporate and fascist needs.
However in this Bill there were just too many onerious elements. Naturally the Bush Regime,the CC (corportists,elites=Crimminal Class=CC ) and legislators loved rhe Bill. I do wish I could recall it precislly. IAC, where is my research assistant ?
Once word got out on the Bill, the Legislative phone, fax and e-mail servers were blown down and taken out by the volume of ferociously opposed communications from the Citizenery to the Capital legislative offices.
Legislators and the corporate world are terrified of large numers of voters blowing off their steam. On this Bill the CITIZENS let the CC, really have it.Bigtime!!
Because of CITIZEN reaction to the Bill, their protests in the millions and bringing down the goverment servers, by the number and force of their anger. The Bill never got out of committee and subsequently died.
Ok now to tie all of the above together.
Congress has about a 9% approval rating. Given some real alternatives, most legislators would be out of a job very quickly.
The once young, free and youthful hippie class are now middle aged, with morgages, credit card payments, car payments and a whole lot of other payments. Things are so bad that 50 million Americans are uninsured and do not have Universal Heathcare the CC class enjoys.
Most Americans if it were not for all the money they owe, would be back in DC, demanding the bums go.But the CC class figured out a long time ago that if you saddled people with lots of debt and monitized that debt. You could control the masses very easily. Very easily.
The key now is not so much as physical street protesters, as it is eletronic protesters. As I evidenced above.One of the key parts of bringing about real change is bombarding the Leeches with our opinions, all the time. Millions of e-mails scare them and really gets their attention. Sometimes on issues that are of real passion I also call my Senators and Congressmans toll free number and MAKE MY POINT !!!!
I have my PC setup so that in ten minutes I can e-mail all concerned, with letterhead addressed to them individually. Using a personal sounding form letter I wrote and they all recieve by e-mail. Ten minutes, that is all it takes.
So until Pegasus rises from the canyon, your assignment this week is to get your Senators, Congressman, Govenors and state rep., all set up on your “Favorites” or e-mail cilient. So that you may write them all each week on a Bill or issue.
It takes 20 minutes to setup your mail client and after that only 10-15 minutes a week to compose a letter that will go to all of them. That you wrote on a concern of yours or of a web site you follow closely. Ten minutes my patrotic friend.
If legislators start to recieve e-mails by the millions to send the Capital Police out to arrest Karl Rove and sit his ass down in front of the House or Senate and punish him for ignoring a Congresssional Subpena. They will act. They are most afraid and responsive to our needs when they see we are paying attention and participating in our Democracy.
Right now they are the only crap we have. So lets start lighting fires every week, under their fat asses and heads. They will not shirk from 10 million e-mails. They are far more afraid of us than of corporations.
But for the moment they have us dicked and know it. We can change DC in stages. This is Stage One. So my restless patriots get your system setup and volunteer to do it for friends. Get going or stop complaining. Writng these sluts by the millions works. So get to work. NOW !!!!
SWEET DREAMS AND KEEP IT LIT————-WILDCAT