Dueling Realities
Do people care about the corruption by Republicans in Congress? If you read The Washington Post the answer is no. The AP by way of The Las Vegas Sun says yes. You be the judge.
The Post has an article entitled, "GOP Contest Prompts Yawns Outside Beltway" and describes how voters don't seem to care much about Jack Abramoff or Delay or Duke Cunningham or....I could go on forever. "I don't get the sense many people are paying attention," said Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), who has been hoping party activists would lead demands for a shake-up. "Corruption is still 90 percent an inside-the-Beltway" issue. GOP Rep. John R. "Randy" Kuhl Jr., said he has held 22 town meetings this month in his moderate New York district. He said the leadership race and the related ethics cloud have come up exactly once, when someone jokingly asked him, "Are you best buddies with Abramoff, and is that how you pronounce it?"
A Diageo/Hotline Poll released yesterday found that 72 percent of registered voters said corruption is equally bad inside the two major parties. Less than one in five said Republicans are more corrupt.
Click the mouse and you read the AP story that a growing number of Republican voters are frustrated by congressional spending and scandal, according to GOP leaders from across the country who worry that an "enthusiasm deficit" could cost the party control of Congress in November. Some rank-and-file Republicans wonder what happened to the party that promised to reform Washington after taking control of Congress in 1994 for the first time in 40 years. "We've seen the enemy, and he is us," said Tom Rath, a Republican National Committee member from New Hampshire describing the sentiments of some GOP voters. Some GOP party strategists expressed the concerns about voter turnout in November. "They do love the president, but they have seen a Congress that doesn't seem to function well and they wonder what the heck is going on," said consultant Joe Gaylord, who helped Republicans seize control of the House in 1994 as an adviser to then-Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.
So which is it? Do people care about wholesale corruption in Washington or not? Personally it's getting harder and harder to get up the strength to fight about it everyday. As long as the system is so fundamentally wired in favor of incumbents and Republicans there won't be any change. Whether a lobbyist can buy a $500 dinner or a $400 dinner for a Member of Congress isn't going to change anything. And the "reform" packages and ideas offered by Democrats are just as phony as the Republicans. If it continues to be business as usual it won't matter who is in charge. I know corruption will continue. I know there will always be corruption but it's the difference between jaywalking and a fatal hit and run. The system can tolerate jaywalking. It can't survive with ethically drunk drivers in charge.
The Post has an article entitled, "GOP Contest Prompts Yawns Outside Beltway" and describes how voters don't seem to care much about Jack Abramoff or Delay or Duke Cunningham or....I could go on forever. "I don't get the sense many people are paying attention," said Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), who has been hoping party activists would lead demands for a shake-up. "Corruption is still 90 percent an inside-the-Beltway" issue. GOP Rep. John R. "Randy" Kuhl Jr., said he has held 22 town meetings this month in his moderate New York district. He said the leadership race and the related ethics cloud have come up exactly once, when someone jokingly asked him, "Are you best buddies with Abramoff, and is that how you pronounce it?"
A Diageo/Hotline Poll released yesterday found that 72 percent of registered voters said corruption is equally bad inside the two major parties. Less than one in five said Republicans are more corrupt.
Click the mouse and you read the AP story that a growing number of Republican voters are frustrated by congressional spending and scandal, according to GOP leaders from across the country who worry that an "enthusiasm deficit" could cost the party control of Congress in November. Some rank-and-file Republicans wonder what happened to the party that promised to reform Washington after taking control of Congress in 1994 for the first time in 40 years. "We've seen the enemy, and he is us," said Tom Rath, a Republican National Committee member from New Hampshire describing the sentiments of some GOP voters. Some GOP party strategists expressed the concerns about voter turnout in November. "They do love the president, but they have seen a Congress that doesn't seem to function well and they wonder what the heck is going on," said consultant Joe Gaylord, who helped Republicans seize control of the House in 1994 as an adviser to then-Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.
So which is it? Do people care about wholesale corruption in Washington or not? Personally it's getting harder and harder to get up the strength to fight about it everyday. As long as the system is so fundamentally wired in favor of incumbents and Republicans there won't be any change. Whether a lobbyist can buy a $500 dinner or a $400 dinner for a Member of Congress isn't going to change anything. And the "reform" packages and ideas offered by Democrats are just as phony as the Republicans. If it continues to be business as usual it won't matter who is in charge. I know corruption will continue. I know there will always be corruption but it's the difference between jaywalking and a fatal hit and run. The system can tolerate jaywalking. It can't survive with ethically drunk drivers in charge.
posted by Crankyboy at 1:11 PM
3 Comments:
Good luck with the Koufax Awards
About finding it harder and harder -- I'm going through the Koufax nominations, and I have to say -- It's been rather depressing reading about the state of our country in these lefty blogs.
I'm finding it harder and harder not to be demoralized to the point of apathy... How do you stay motivated, despite all the depressing news?
Demoralized to the point of apathy. Nicely phrased. Pretty much sums it up. But...If I stopped paying attention I'd lose the ability to know when I'm being lied to. And the only thing worse than being lied to is not knowing that you are being lied to.
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