House of Cowards

The failure and cowardice of the Senate yesterday is just another example of their unfitness to conduct the nation's business. These men and women are not serving their constituents as they were elected to do, but rather serving their own careers and self-interests. Being a congressperson or Senator is not supposed to be a path to advance one's own agenda or financial well-being. They are meant to serve the people, plain and simple. Where do they get off going against the wishes of the people?

It reminds me of election night last year. Even to the last minute, right-wing media was blissfully unaware of shifting demographics and values in the United States. Their denial and anger at the election results merely emphasized how out of touch with the people they really are. And so it continues.

Hopefully all of them pay a heavy price at the next election. Despite their collective belief that the American masses are comprised of fools and idiots, we are onto them.

And we won't forget their cowardice when it comes time to cast our ballots again.

Warped Huckster

The selection of decent talk radio programs in my area is decidedly right-wing, which is an immediate turnoff. The only show near to being rational and objective is – believe it or not – Geraldo Rivera's weekday broadcasts.

However, the other day I happened to be stuck in a drive-through line at a convenience store. I turned on the radio and began listening to former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee's rather repulsive jabber. He was going on about homeless people receiving cell phones subsidized by the government (aka "Obama phones"), commiserating with a caller when she declared homeless shelters in New York City were indeed passing out free cell phones to the indigent.

I don't know whether it was my timing, or if the actual content of his typical weekday show is gleefully mocking of the poor and homeless, but this is what I heard (the wording paraphrased from my memory, but I'm sure you’ll get the drift):

I hope homeless people who receive cell phones spend all their free minutes dodging marketing ads. Wouldn't it be great if they got calls from insurance companies fishing for homeowners? Poetic justice, indeed!

Hmmm. Might not the homeless use cell phones to schedule job interviews, or contact family members worried about their well-being? Did Huckabee consider his joke wouldn't be funny to those who lost perfectly good homes – and livelihoods – because of the Republican-Bush-rotted economy?

What the hell kind of Christian is former Baptist minister Huckabee?

Well Said

Very true when you think about it:

A few more related quotes by Voltaire:

• The art of government is to make two-thirds of a nation pay all it possibly can pay for the benefit of the other third.

• In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another.

• Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them.

Go to Brainy Quotes for more from Voltaire (and others).