U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, is one of the few in Washington whose malevolent stink hangs like a dark cloud over this otherwise moderately wicked institution.
The recent indictment charges on DeLay can be best described, in the words of passive-aggressive religious lunatic Pat Robertson, as 'God smiting his enemy.' It seems that the 'progressive media' in this forward-looking Midwestern town, in pushing their agenda of derision against Cheney, Rove and the like, substitute the actions of a few relatively small political players for a more looming problem. The trillions of dollars that flow through the federal government every year turn what would be a representative democracy into another yacht club where the wealthy exchange favors with amoral, conniving politicians.
DeLay entered the national consciousness during the Terri Schiavo debacle. DeLay decided that part of his job as top-ranking congressman and campaign finance prostitute was to comment on the decisions of the Supreme Court, even issuing vague threats against them. DeLay certainly does not need to prove his ambition, for it isn't every day a politician has the juevos to drag his agenda across two branches of government.
But it is useless to muse on the past because unfortunately we cannot change history?? we can only whitewash it. The discerning media consumer learns through experience and wisdom that though the government may not necessarily be an evil institution when the word is defined as morally wrong, when you define evil as causing ruin, injury or pain, the word definitely seems appropriate. But the most baffling thing about government is that the people who compose it are, for the most part, charitable people who advertently or inadvertently get caught up in the vice and corruption of Washington.
Take Trent Lott for example, who, after being forced to resign from his position as Senate majority leader for his controversial comments at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party, has on his recent book tour revealed himself (despite a few lapses in judgment during TV interviews) to be a compassionate, free-thinking human being. Or dig deep into the annals of political bloggery to find interviews with George W. Bush from his oil baron days, and you might find a different person than the one that smirks his way through somber speeches and press conferences.
Then there are those who come along who are the exception to the exception. DeLay, with a demeanor reminiscent of Richard Nixon and a career perpetually just a step ahead of scandal, has finally tripped up. For someone so steeped in the financial scene on Capitol Hill, it's amazing that he had been tried in front of the House Ethics Committee in 2004 for 'linking political donations to a legislative favor,' according to The Washington Post.
What kind of politician would have the gall to handle business this way? Pretty much all of them. This of course leads to the issue of money in politics, one that has been championed in recent years by the honorable Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold. Does one vote per person really give each American equal influence over the way their country is run? In short: hell no. The largest contributors to political campaigns often give sizable donations to both candidates. This means that no matter who is elected, the same businessmen are running the show.
To approach the question of a lobbying group's influence like an economist, one should devise some kind of model that divides legislative power according to the size of contributions. But I find this method a little sadistic.
The bottom line is that the group of people that founded this nation did not intend for it to end up this way. If Jefferson were alive to see the role that money plays in politics today, he'd take a torch to Washington. I love this country, but I sure as hell wouldn't stop him.
