History Lesson

I have held off on commenting regarding the Abramoff scandal, I wanted to see how it was going to play out.

But one thing has me pretty torqued off.

See, we were in a situation similar to this about 35 years ago. An American war was winding down, after the inept and comic bunglings of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, Nixon came into office with a secret plan. It may have been a secret but it was exceedingly straightforward and effective.

He bombed the crap out of our enemy until they soiled themselves and held up a white flag. So far so good. Then Tricky Dick got caught up in an ethics scandal leaving the Democrats free to pretend they were responsible adults for a few weeks.

Do you recall what they did?

As fast as they could pen legislation they threw our putatative allies over condemning millions to death (historical fact Zombie, please take the time to look it up before you sigh). All we had to do was back them up for a year or two more, but that was more than the left could stomach.

So, let's compare that to where we stand today. The war in many ways is entering it's most critical phase as we begin to hand over power and the tender shoots of democracy are exposed to the predations of terrorists and radical Islamists.

Into the middle of this we have the stink-bomb that is Mr. Abramoff. No, I don't think this will devastate the Republican Party, but, it costs us dearly at a time when we can least afford it.

So thank you typically sleazy politicians for continuing the proud tradition of corrupt dealings in the great white city. You have made it that much harder to achieve a good result in iraq. I think what makes me angriest about this whole situation is the weary resignation we all seem to feel.

I think we've forgotten the first rule in America. Laws exist to protect us from politicians, not the other way around. Perhaps it's time to frog march some of these joker's and remind them that,

A.) They are not Gods among us, but rather servants

B.) They are not invincible, corruption should cost them dearly.

Perhaps I'm an idealist, but this hits me in the gut. I feel when we send people to Washington we are handing them a huge trust. When our officials break the law for real, not shrill liberal whining, but for real. I want them doing hard time. Won't happen, I know, cuz they write the laws! If knuckleheads like Delay and Reid feel their job is to extract funds from wealthy donors, perhaps we should, at the very least, send them back to the private sector, where they will be free to accumulate all the dough they wish.

Until then, eye on the ball guys, a hint, you're supposed to protect US first, not your career, your legacy or your fortunes.

Public service, what a concept.

Abramoff
scandal
Iraq war