A Crook By Any Other Name

Corruption - duplicitous or fraudulent conduct by those in power, generally bribery. 

This is the standard definition of corruption.  However, in the modern political world we have modified this definition.  It isn't about lying or cheating or bribery anymore.  It is about to whom you lie, who you cheat or from whom you take a bribe.  Deceiving or defrauding the American people is no longer frowned on; indeed it is rewarded.  Taking bribes depends entirely upon the amount of the bribe.  That is to say that the legitimacy of the illicit pay-off is directly proportional to its size. 

This puts me in mind of a story that is told about Winston Churchill.  It seems that he was at a dinner party and overheard an aristocratic lady say that she would sleep with any man for a million pounds.  At which point Churchill asked if she would sleep with him for twenty.  Indignantly she demanded to know if he thought her to be a prostitute.  Mr. Churchill then informed her that her profession had already been established.  All that was at issue was price.

Washington D.C. is a giant brothel.  Our state houses are red light districts.  Our Democracy is in decline - the Republic is crumbling.  If you don't like it - Vote!  No excuses.  It is all we have left.

Jesus Saves, but Cash is God

Open letter to Chief Justice John Roberts - mailed today.  We have nothing to lose by talking back.  So do that. Talk back.

Chief Justice John Roberts

Supreme Court of the United States
1 First Street, NEWashington, DC 20543

Chief Justice Roberts:

In McCutcheon vs. Federal Election Commission you have reaffirmed that money is the equivalent of human speech in the political arena.  In Citizens United you proclaimed inorganic, for profit, limited liability – that is to say responsibility in this country – corporate entities to be the equal of flesh and blood human beings.  In between these two affronts to the sensibility of the average American you insinuated yourself into the private lives of women by even discussing an employer’s right to place personal religious beliefs above a woman’s legal right to control her own reproductive health with regard to her insurance coverage. 

During the hearing of the Hobby Lobby case you actually seemed to assert that contraception is abortion.  You are not a physician, and you simply don’t know what you are talking about.  Contraception is not a form of abortion, and indeed many women use it for reasons wholly unrelated to any type of birth control.  The only people who tend to think of contraception as abortive are people who base this supposition on their religious principles.  You will forgive me for not taking your commitment to any faith based code too seriously.  Since while you are more than happy to hide behind the Bible and the Gospels of Jesus Christ to disenfranchise women, you are also intent upon enabling and abetting modern day money lenders and Pharisees; thus, reestablishing the temple Christ destroyed.

As if all of this weren’t distasteful enough to most average citizens, the senior member of your four horsemen persists in making obnoxious comments in the press.  Apparently, Scalia doesn’t think that $3.5, 000, 000 is a lot of money.  It is difficult to tell if this man is trying to be amusing or simply insulting, but in a nation that balks at raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour one thing is sure.  His comment is obscene.  

I have no way of ending this letter that is even remotely sincere, so let me just make a suggestion.  It is clear to us out here in the real world that you have no interest in, concern for or accountability to the majority of Americans.  Therefore, owing to the fact that we pay the taxes that materially support your existence please spare us your religion, patriotism, deep erudition and commitment to the Constitution.  In future just say you are open for business and be done with it.

Barbara Carvallo
Address Appended

Laughing at the Devil

Charles Koch, puppet master of the Right and perhaps the Supreme Court, dusts off some of Ayn Rand's lingo like collectivism and tries to convince the world via the "Wall Street Journal" of his deep and abiding commitment to liberty and the common good.  Keep in mind that no tyrant ever came forward spewing proclamations of oppression.  They all talk about liberty in the beginning.

You will find many ironies in the following piece, not the least of which is a reference to Arthur Schopenhauer's alleged advocacy of personality assassination as adopted by Saul Alinsky.  Funny, I read Schopenhauer; didn't like him much, but don't remember any such thing.  At any rate, identifying Alinsky with Schopenhauer is a bit like identifying Gertrude Stein with the feminist philosophy of the Old Testament.  It is stupid at best and on its face.  Koch conveniently overlooks Karl Rove's pronounced ability to engage in personality destruction which he learned at the knee of his mentor Mr. Lee Atwater, and used successfully to put and keep G.W. Bush in office.  Lee was one of the most viscous personality assassins to ever step foot on the political stage. I understand he died of cancer, begging his God for forgiveness after decades of crapping on His image.

I am trying to adopt the Rachel Maddow strategy of laughing at these people rather than flying into a rage and clicking my BP up several dozen points.  So read it and laugh, but remember to know your enemy and make sure your friends know him too.

Charles Koch: I'm Fighting to Restore a Free Society