This ia another article that I had published on the original Rant Place page back in 1998. Read this article and let me know if you feel that the attitude that I present here still applies to our elected officials. A couple of major changes from when this article was first published on the Net is that a) the underground bunker has been exposed and is no longer set aside for its originally intended purpose, and b) Christine Whitman is no longer Governor of New Jersey. But before we get to the article, I have one question......
Is it just me or does anyone else notice that even when a Senator retires from office, they are still called "Senator"? They're no longer in the Senate so why should they still be called Seantor??
But, onto the article:
Self Proclaimed Royalty!
So, what could I be referring to here? America's super-rich? Nope. Our elected officials.
Elected officials. That seems to be something they always forget until it comes time for re-election. Then they cater to us and tell us everything we want to hear. They play us like finer-tuned instruments. But in reality, they treat us like mushroom....feed us BS and keep us in the dark.
What brought this rant on from me?? I happened to catch a small segment of a TV show this weekend. The show aired on A&E and they dealt with the bunker that was built in the '50 under The Fairchild (some premier, top-level hotel/resot near Washington DC). This bunker was built during the Cold War and was intended to house Congress and other members of government. I started to think.....Hell, if we had a major nuclear war I could think of quite a few other people that I would like to see housed in that bunker; and none of them would be politicians or bureaucrats. Let's face it, if anything that drastic happened, whoever was left COULD ELECT NEW OFFICIALS. Isn't that what democracy is about? But doctors, nurses, construction engineers....those you can't elect. They all have ACTUAL talents that could be put to use after a nuclear holocaust. I kept thinking to myself how presumptuous they (Congress at the time)to think that THEY deserved to be saved. If a nuclear holocaust had occurred, it would more than likely have been caused by either their actions or inactions.
Is the current Congress any different?
Nope!! I don't think so. I think that their attitude has gotten worse. Has anyone ever listened to any of the TV shows where Congressional representatives answer questions of people who call in? I know, some of you are like me....it only annoys me to listen to them. But take the time and really listen to them. Listen to their tones and the words they choose. Most of the time the answers they give are no clearer than before. But I've listened and I've heard the patronizing tones the simplistic phrases that are used. Like they are talking to children who are too stupid to understand. That THEY (the Congress) are much more intelligent, so people should worry their "little heads" about all that Congress-stuff....that THEY will take care of US. I always wonder....when did WE start working for THEM?
We had an incident recently here in NJ that pretty much drove that idea home. We had an election for governor. Well, anyone who knows me and has communicated with me knows that I refer to our Gov. Whitman as "Her Ladyship". Why? Because the attitude that I described in the previous paragraph fits HER to a T! She knows what's good for us and doesn't feel that we should have any control over her nor does she feel she is accountable to the citizens of NJ. Well, back to the elections. She won by the slimest of margins. Now, you would think that she would be concerned this? That this would send her a message that many people aren't happy with her job performance. Nope! Does she acknowledge the close election results? Does she look to the people of NJ to find out what they are looking for from her? No to both. Her acceptance speech painted such a rosy picture of her and her administration. She attributed her slim margin to the fact that there were more of the "smarter people" who weren't swayed by her opponents nor their campaigns. What I got out of her speech was that those of us who didn't vote for her were stupid, not worth her time, and were to be discounted. All she's ever done is put money in her friends' pockets and helped her political allies at the expense of the citizens of NJ. I pray to God that "Her Ladyship" never gets a national office.
So? What's the answer?
Well, no matter what any of the Aristocracy say, our form of governement is still the most successful in the world. It is unfortunate that the new aristocracy has bastardized it so much so that they can get the lion's share of the benefits exclusively for themselves. The answer is the standard answer that we have all heard all of the time. VOTE! When we don't vote, they win. They present the stats that show that less than half vote in the general elections. They use that to justify their actions. They say that the people don't care. That if people cared, they'd vote. So, they cater to the special interests....those that can put money in their pockets, assure them of re-election, offer them a cushy job after they leave "public office" (except for the actual re-election year). Wouldn't ANY of you want even a fraction of what they reserve for themselves??
Played for Fools
That's what happens to us in the middle. You know, the middle between being so poor that the Liberals bend over backwards to cater to us and being so rich that the Conservatives bend over backwards to cater to us. Remember, the poverety-striken are the Liberal's powerbase and the rich are the Conservative's powerbase. As long as the poverty-striken are kept poor and that Liberals can make them promises of free give-aways (because if they weren't poverty-striken anymore, they wouldn't need the give-aways), the Liberals increase their chances of re-election; and this holds true for the Conservatives. As much as the rest of us are viewed as their "subjects", these groups are viewed as their "loyal subjects".
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