But, but, nobody here even knew the guy....

In other scandals, and it's so hard to keep up.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061006/ap_on_go_pr_wh/white_house_abramoff_1

 

Who cares?

 

Some US attorney, I suspect.

 

That's right. An attorney. Not us.

 

OK. Don't care.
And, also, don't speak for the board.

 

I almost started a thread this morning asking for advice on how to explain kangaroo sex to my 4-year-old son (he saw it at the zoo the other day).

So I won't go criticizing Fenian for talking about, you know, legitimate stuff.

 

Don't discourage Fenian. His non-stop surfing makes me feel better about myself.

 

Seriously, though ... I could use some advice. I told him the kangaroos were playing, but he occasionally asks why they were being so rough with each other.

 

If you believe there's any difference between folks like Abramoff or any other Republican or Democrat within 1,000 miles of the District, you're fucking crazy.

 

It was a democrat - BILL CLINTON - who said "The Era of Big Government is Over."

And it was.

Then republicans took control.

A lot of people who supported the party in power for the past decade would rather stick their fingers in their ears and scream than hear about the corruption in executive and legislative branches under republican leadership. The difference, three_bags_full, is that conservatives once decried the size and powers of government: eliminate the department of education, privatize social security, cut spending (yeah right!), cut taxes and keep the government's role in our lives limited.

But basically, conservatives don't believe in the system which they rule. Do they cut spending and cut taxes, which is what they say they believe in? Nope. Do they impose fiscal responsibility? Nyet. The irony is that when they come into power, they couldn't wean themselves from the government milk (is this correct usage of irony?).

So what do they do when they come into power? They treat the government coffers like their personal toybox, giving contracts to their friends so they can make millions (Halliburton), giving millionaires tax cuts, giving financial breaks to oil companies (energy bill), banking institutions (bankrupcy bill) and big pharma (prescription drug bill).

Instead of pursuing their beliefs for limited government, they sell out. They don't believe in the mission of the government, so they use it to help their friends profit. Democrats are different. The kind of welfare they support is cheaper than the corporate welfare the republicans are legalizing. Social Security is cheaper than financial securty republicans offer Wall Street. Dems skim from time-to-time, but they don't generally disdain the system they operate in. More than not, they believe in that system. And in 40 years in power, they were overall good stewards of that system (often with healthy balancing power from a republican executive). But now there is no countervailing power. The fox is guarding the hen house and corruption - from Abramoff to Burns to Rumsfeld to Stevens to Frist to Delay to Foley to Ney to Hastert (look at his deal where he made a million profiting off of his land) to Boehner to Bush - has run amock.

 

Tell your kid that kangaroos like their sex rough.

 

And when the Democrats come into power after the midterms (maybe), they'll make it their toybox.