Track-A-’Crat: The Roll Call of Democratic Delinquency

I know that, at this point, nothing that politicians do should surprise me anymore.

But I can’t help it.  I still, at times, naively assume that some people exercise the same prudence in voting as they do in other important aspects of their life, such as buying a home.

Hmmm, perhaps that’s not the best example. If all the US homeowners who bought a house that they knew they could never afford voted in the same manner, then we’d end up with a government led by a man who has never achieved anything.

Which, strangely enough, is exactly what happened.

Anyway, my point is that politicians always find new ways to corrode the popular opinion of politics.  It’s like it’s some inside game for them, whereby the politician that can inflict the most damage on the body-politic wins.  I’m just not sure what prize they think they’re going to receive.

The new odds-on favorite for this honor is Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) who positively sneers at the foolish notion that he, or any other representative, should read the bills on which they vote.

Precisely what, then, does he think his job entails?

Simply taking bribes like his wife, perhaps?

He does have a point when he says that you need lawyers and more than two days to read a 1,000 bill (referring to cap ‘n’ tax).  But the answer to that is not to then not read the bill, but to make it less needlessly complex and allowing the appropriate time in Congress for debate.

When it comes time to perform the post-mortem, the Chineses nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek will be proven right (again): Communists are a cancer of the heart.

I’m starting to develop thoughts that have never previously held any appeal to me.

I’m beginning to hope that our political system collapses.  That it all comes down.  Every last part of it.

Before I start sounding like the Unabomber, let me explain why (in great brevity): because it’s becoming increasingly evident that this incarnation of democracy is past redemption.  The process of decay has been a long one, to be sure, but has hit warp-speed since January.

Corruption is endemic in politics, criminals are given positions that they shouldn’t even dream of, the desires of us plebs have never counted for less and the mainstream media has defaulted on its core mission, that of providing objective information about the government and its policies.

The latest instance of all this (at least, it was at the time of writing this morning – no doubt another case of malfeasance has since cropped up) is Rep. John Conyers’ decision to kill a possible congressional probe into ACORN’s extremely dodgy dealings.

Having previously voiced support for investigating ACORN, Conyers has turned tail and fled, such is the might of the community organizers. Are we really still debating whether or not ACORN is shady?

Compared to monarchical/papal/feudal rule, democracy is but a pink, wailing newly-born.  Its chances of outlasting those forms of government are looking slimmer by the day.

UPDATE: And things are no better in the Mother of Parliaments.