I had planned something else for today’s post – but I received an e-mail response from one of the people I sent my Saturday e-mail to. I decided that this response would make an interesting post – here is the e-mail response I received.
Sorry Ed, I've seen this before, and it is propaganda designed to make people angry, when in fact this list blames the wrong folks, the referees, who's calls have been bought, so if you don't get rid of the buyers, they'll just bring in more referees who can be bought. The Golden Rule, he who has the gold makes the rules. Find the clean referees, disgorge the rest. You shouldn't send this around. Gas on the fire. There are good people in Congress who work very hard to keep the system clean, so don't throw the baby out with the dishwater. _____
Here is my response:
I appreciate your comments. In principle, I agree with you. But, you only need a few bad apples to spoil the entire barrel. "Bought" is a great word. Brian Tracy, in his book, "Something for Nothing," explains exactly how the political system works - and it's obvious. (I paraphrase) You take money from the "bosses" cause they's the only ones that have it - now you're beholding to the bosses - but the bosses don't have enough votes to get you elected - so you go promise the peasants virtually anything they want - when you get elected by the peasants, you have to start paying back the bosses. But, in order to stay in your aristocratic, seat of power, you have to keep the peasants appeased - so you throw them a piece of meat periodically, get lots of publicity over it so they all know you really care about them (in a pig's eye) so they'll vote for you again the next time. But, you'll still need more money from the bosses to run the next campaign - so in reality, the full-time job is campaigning and kissing ass, the rest of the time is expending taxpayers money however you see fit because no one really ever holds you accountable – UNLESS, you piss off one of your fellow pigs, then they skewer you and put you over the pit to roast. It's a simple system. Been going on since the beginning - it's just so out of control now that very little of real value ever gets done and it costs more to do nothing. (Ed. Note: I have copies of the Brian Tracy book if you're interested. Drop me an e-mail and I'll get back to you.)
Geez! Do I sound like a cynic? Probably - because I am. This crap ain't new, this writer, Reese, - who has always put all his cards on the table, full disclosure, made everything about himself public so he was transparent and they knew exactly where he was coming from (unlike the people he wrote about, who lie and cheat as often as they can get away with it) - wrote this article 25 years ago - this isn't anything new.
Propaganda? So, exactly what is NOT propaganda? I don't care what news source you read, watch or listen to - there is no such thing as unbiased, objectivity. That's an ideal - but it doesn't exist in practice. Democrats - propaganda, Republicans - propaganda, Libertarians (me) - propaganda, Socialists - propaganda, Centrists - propaganda, Green Party - propaganda, Marxists - propaganda, Baptists - Propaganda, Catholics - propaganda, Jews - propaganda, Muslims - propaganda - and on and on. ALL propaganda is designed to create an emotional response - anger is certainly one of them - and when people see totally, greedy jerks getting rewarded for damn near destroying the entire world's economy - people tend to get angry. And now the information is coming out that the economic collapse in Greece (and probably Italy, close behind) were guided by, guess who? Yep, none other then the same "fantastic talent" at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, etc. that were behind the derivatives market here in the U.S. - the same ones that keep getting multi-million dollar bonuses for screwing anybody they can.
Hey, invest your money, take the risks, make big rewards because you invested in the right thing at the right time - GREAT! That's capitalism and free enterprise - I support it 100%. Invest your money, take the risks and lose your butt because you picked the wrong investments – TOO BAD! Accept your losses and deal with it. BUT you DON'T GET multi-million dollar bonuses for investing other people's money while they all lose their butts, homes, life savings and then you, essentially, thumb your noses at them. You’re no better then Bernie Madoff. You better get the hell out of town before we come looking for you with our Glock 9mm's. And this ALL ties back to what goes on in Congress and governmental bodies like Congress all over the world. They're all complicit. It ain't their money to screw with. IT’S OURS!
So, this guy, Reese, looks at and states the simple truth - 545 people in Washington DC control virtually every aspect of our lives. To show you the extremes this goes – they have the power to decide and control whether a woman has a choice or not as to what she can do about her own body when it comes to having or not having a child or whether people can marry another person they love, whether of the opposite or same gender and many other provocative issues. I’m sorry, I see these as personal and moral moral issues, not legal issues. What happened to the right to life, liberty and the PURSUIT of happiness? I guess the 545 people know our personal lives, feelings, convictions, etc. better then we do and have the power to make those decisions for us and meter out life, liberty and happiness. I’m not making any judgments on any of these issues. Those are my personal and private views. And, since I’m not God, I’m not qualified to make these judgments for other people.
And, interestingly, too many of these people who are making these judgments for our lives are, IN MY OPINION, low life's like John Edwards and the Republican Senator from NV, or Burris from Chicago or Jefferson who got caught with $90,000 in "cold, hard cash" in his freezer, or Stephens in AK with $225,000 in home remodeling, additions, renovations and he really didn't know where it came from or why, or Rangel or Frank or Dodd - (I'm an equal opportunity hater when it comes to scumbags – oops, I’m judging, sorry).
The problem is finding the “clean referees,” as you called them - WHO ARE THEY? There is no transparency in the system. Once you join the "Club" you either play by THEIR rules - or - you're drummed out of the Club - it's a tit for tat game. I don’t see any difference between this Club and the Mafia (any of them – you pick the country or name). Play by the Don's rules, take care of those who MUST be taken care of and you're alright. Don't play by the Don's rules and . . . well, I guess Jimmy Hoffa and Bugsy Siegel didn't read that small, fine print.
If you get a chance, read Evan Bayh's letter announcing his retirement from the Senate to the people of Indiana, today (2/15/10). In a very gracious and carefully crafted way, here is a Senator (who may be one of the “clean referees”) who is saying what Charley Reese said and what I feel. Only, he's being nice so he doesn't end up like Jimmy Hoffa (in the political sense) - but he wants out of the dirt we call the Congress of the U.S. Don't forget, I've lived here in the land of the “Beltway Bandits” (and all those who carry that nickname worked hard to earn it) for 40 years now. The further you get away from DC, the less the stench.
Yep! I do get just a little angry. And, if the people in this country don't get a little angry - pretty soon we won't even have that right anymore. Do I stop living my life to the fullest everyday - HELL NO! Do I spend my waking hours quaking in my boots - HELL NO! Do I believe the world is going to end in 2012? Hell NO! Am I trying to rally the troops for a big march on the Capitol with pitchforks and torches? HELL NO! There are plenty of crazies out there that will do that. Do I believe if this country continues on its present course, our grand kids and great grand kids may not understand even the freedom we've been fortunate enough to experience? HELL YES! I'm simply trying to get people to think and react - open their minds to what's going on outside their nice big McMansions that they'll soon lose to foreclosure (exaggeration, of course - poetic license – I hope!). I'm apolitical - I don't like politics and I don't like professional, career politicians. I'd rather hang out with gnarly, red blooded rednecks any day of the week than be around, in my humble opinion, disingenuous, pond scum, politicians. At least I know a redneck will jump in to save me if I were drowning WITHOUT expecting something in return . . . before he jumps in. I couldn't expect a politician to mess up his $400 hairstyle or his, imported, custom-tailored, silk suits and Italian shoes. One like that “served” us for some 47 years.
So, you reacted, ____. You read enough to react. Therefore, I fulfilled my objective - you took a few minutes to say what you thought - and that's the only reason I wrote my commentary and sent that 25 year old piece around. I don't expect everyone to agree with me - hell, life would be boring and I wouldn't learn anything new. I hope people read, think, get mad, agree, disagree, express other views and perspectives, enlighten me and anyone else who reads anything I say. I may not be JD Salinger, Peter Drucker, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck or a plethora of other renowned writers (loved or despised). BUT, so far – and who knows for how much longer – I still have the right to write and speak what's on my mind, and who knows . . . maybe it will improve one other person's life or help them sort out something that's been bothering them and they'll feel they can make a decision. Whatever! What the hell else can I do at this stage of life? I just want to leave this campsite (earth) a little better then it was when I arrived here.
And by the way, I write this with love and respect for you, ____
More on Thursday.
Enthusiastically,
Ed
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