Access To Democracy

     We have heard a lot in these past months about earmarks and pork in Congressional legislation, or, for that matter, state legislation as well.  It’s as though earmarks has become a dirty word, and some candidates, who have had no reservations about voting for bills filled with earmarks during their terms, suddenly seem to have found them unconscionable.

     An earmark, of course, is a portion of a bill which is earmarked for a specific purpose, usually outside the purview of the pending bill.  Ity can come in the form of an amendment or additional clause.  It is defined as a designation of funds for a specific purpose.  For instance, the infamous “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska was an described as an earmark by the under-indictment Senator Ted Stevens.  It was something he wanted to provide for his constitutents even though it was senseless.  Actually, it was not an earmark.  It was an example of “pork” in a legislative bill.  “Pork” is a device used by politicians who tack provisions onto a bill which provide patronage for their constituents in the form of money, jobs or favors.  Pork is usually representative of an unnecessary use of government funds as a reward, rather than earmarking something for a legitimate public purpose.

     The Democratic Congress sought legislation this past session which would identify the legislator who introduced a provision in a bill, so that he/she could be identified, particularly to determine whether there was a legitimate public need for the provision, or whether it fell into the “pork” category.  Thus, money for bridges or other necessary public uses are earmarks, as opposed to gratuitous pork.

     How disingenuous then, for some legislators — particularly when elections are around the corner — to pledge never to engage in voting for earmarks.  They fail to distinguish between the legitimate needs of their areas, or the waste of public funds by providing unneeded pork.  Pledging never to vote in favor of an earmark is electoral pandering to the public, much the same as a “no new taxes” pledge, and then condoning an increase in fees, assessments and levies which accomplish by the back door what a tax increase — often needed for an emergency or a necessary public improvement — would have accomplished by being honest with the voters.

     Beware the candidate who tries to proclaim his/her piety with a pledge of no earmarks, with the same caution as believing the medicine man at the carnivals of days past.

     One had to laugh when McCain (Bush Light) dubbed Obama an elitist.  The most troubling thing about McCain not being able to answer how many homes he and his trophy wife own, is not merely his senility.  It’s the disingenuous characterization of an opponent which shows the soul, or lack of soul of this man who would be king.  Whether it’s seven homes or ten, no difference.  McCain didn’t have a clue, any more than whether their value was 20 million or two cents, and his characterization of middle class as having wealth of $5 million just indicates how out of touch he is, just as the failure to pay taxes on one of the California condos is another example of irresponsibility of the rich who can’t equate with those of us slogging through tough times.   He’s they guy who flies around in one of his wife’s airplanes, who was born to privilege, who finished next to the bottom of his class at the naval academy, who crashed multiple planes on the decks of carriers, who dumped his ailing first wife for a ringing cash register, who railed against lobbyists and whose campaign is stacked with and controlled by them, who doesn’t even know enough about geography to know which country borders which in the Middle East, who accused Obama of unbridled ambition when he spoke of his own ambition to become President almost a decade ago as an asset (and can you imagine a candidate for that office who is not ambitious?), who told a touching war story at the recent forum only to be unmasked as having stolen same from a famous Russian author, who needs Joe Lieberman (Quisling) at his ear to correct his daily gaffs, who can make light and sing about bombing Iran, who doesn’t care if the conflict in Iraq lasts another one hundred years as long as it meets his definition of “victory”, who would reinstitute the draft according to his own statements, who is an alumnus of the Keating Five scandal, who has voted against veterans’ benefits and educational opportunities, who advocates drilling for oil as though it offers instant salvation to our energy woes even though drilling rigs are booked up for the next three years, even though any relief could be a decade away, even though petroleum companies have 68 million acres leased where they’re not drilling and are anxious to despoil our entire environment, who is famous for his volatile and insensitive temper (I wonder what they’ve got him on for the campaign), who denigrated his wife in public with the most vile of epithets, who has never held a “real” job for any length of time, and who is totally out of touch with reality and what the average American endures on a daily basis, who blames the mortgage crisis on the victims, who thinks the economy is doing just fine, who can’t remember from one day to the next what he has said and changes his core beliefs on a daily basis — and this man has the tenacity to mischaracterize Obama.  A Mc Cain presidency would make us lonesome for George W.  Heaven help us!

     Priscilla Lord Faris, a name that will live in Minnesota election infamy, if you will, and whose sole contribution to democracy has been the savaging of Al Franken in the most despicable and spurious manner (see our earlier article) because she decided he couldn’t win over the Minnesota electorate, now admits that Norm Coleman is a friend.  Surprise!  If it walks like a skunk, smells like a skunk…

     Tim Pawlenty and I have a wide philosophical and political gulf between us.  When he opposed light rail as a legislator, I favored it.  I felt it was inappropriate for anyone running for office to take a “no new taxes” pledge because it left them in an inflexible position, thought that it was a mistake to veto a badly needed Transportation Bill in 2007, and so on. 

      That said, Tim Pawlenty is heads and shoulders above any of the other prospective candidates being put forward as possible McCain Vice-Presidential choices.  Not only does his youth offset Mcain’s long in the tooth appearance, but Pawlenty is intelligent, smooth, articulate, has a lovely and presentable family, and brings evangelical credentials which McCain sorely needs.  In addition, he can probably cut into Obama’s Minnesota vote, looking at it realistically.

     If there was any doubt as to how far Pawlenty has come, one only had to listen to his presentation before the National Press Club last week.  He gave an excellent and flawless presentation, was fully prepared to field questions after the speech, quick on his feet and with a sense of humor.  Pawlenty has positioned himself well, and while we’re still not on the same page with regard to our beliefs, McCain can only be enhanced by choosing the Minnesota Governor for his team.

     The angst which John Edwards, and unfortunately his family as well, are enduring, is a personal tragedy.  He is not the first, nor will he  be the last, public figure to be tarred with the stigma of infidelity.  We can run down the list of politicians, from Clinton to McCain, from Eisenhower to Kennedy, from Guiliani to Nelson Rockefeller to Spitzer, and find the tawdry, the unfaithfulness, the scandalous rumors.  But then there are the lies, and the lies are harder to swallow.  If you lied about one thing, would you hesitate to lie about another?  About your principles?  You ideals?  Your vision for the future?  What about consideration for the political party whose nomination you sought?  Knowing what he knew, and what was on the verge of being disclosed, how could he have possibly continued to seek the nomination?  Didn’t he give a whit about the beliefs and faith of his followers in him and what he espoused?  That’s the unconscionable part, not the affair.

     Elizabeth Edwards has endured much over these last few years, and to all outward appearances, she deserved better.  We  never know what really goes on inside a relationship, but Mrs. Edwards, who has battled cancer so valiantly, and the Edwards children, who apparently idolized their father, are surely victims.  But they should be left alone to deal with their problem, and not be plastered on the front pages or the scandal sheets, or the intrusions of so many TV shows which thrive on this type of personal misery.  On the other hand, she apparently knew of this “relationship” since 2006.  How could she allow this falsehood to be perpetrated on the country, if in fact she did know?  Where is the good faith on the part of the Edwards’?  There is none. 

     John Edwards is yet another idol with clay feet.  It doesn’t make the ideals he espoused any less important, nor does it take away from the good he accomplished, but it tarnishes the man, and his image.  Saying he was narcissistic and self-centered is not nearly enough.  He owes his supporters, myself included, and those who put their faith in him, more.  Much more.  That is the least he can do before he slinks into the past.

      Chutzpah, for those living in a glass bubble, is described as a brazen or galling statement.  So when I heard McCain’s challenge to Obama today, after he accused Obama of giving up on the energy bill, to “come back into town and come back to work,”  I was speechless (which is not easy for me).  McCain, talking about going back to work?  McCain, who doesn’t like to work weekends?  McCain, who had the worst attendance record in Congress this past session (even worse than Sen. Tim Johnson who was recovering from a brain tumor)?  McCain, who spouts his support of veteran’s and voted nine times to oppose relief for veterans and couldn’t even bother to show up to vote on the Veteran’s Bill of Rights (which he chose not to sign on to as an endorser)?  McCain, who talks about solutions to the energy crisis, and was AWOL, as usual, on the votes on renewable energy and the vote to roll back the uuconscionable tax breaks for big oil (who happen to be big McC contributors)?  McCain, who missed vote after vote?  Gimme a break!

      We have had nothing from the Bush Administration for seven and a half years except secrets and lies.  They lied us into war, went after the wrong “evil-doers”, are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, have destroyed our economy, diminished our standing in the world,  favored the top one per cent to the detriment of the other 99, emasculated the Bill of Rights at every turn, tried to destroy the concept and intent of the Constitution and turn us into an Executive Branch of government only; I can go on and on.  Unfortunately, John McCain dances to the same drummer.  If we’re going to save this nation, there is only one vote in November — Obama.