There are a lot of white male senior citizens out there who are powerful, arrogant and corrupt. I think we will be seeing more and more of them do the walk of shame to jail or disgrace.
First we had Ken Lay.
Then Randall Cunningham in San Diego.
Last week we got to see Alan Greenspan admit that he was "partially wrong".
And then we got to see Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.
Alaskan's seem to love "Uncle Ted" but the rest of us know him as the clueless 80 year old who described the Internet as a "series of tubes" and was one of the most powerful men in the Senate.
More than once I asked why the Senator from Alaska was so powerful? I can only assume the answer is seniority because it is not population or economy. After all Steven's first became a senator sometime after the Pony Express and before the telegraph. But power through seniority smacks of union rules or corruption - neither of which I want to see in Congress.
What I find most interesting about Steven's case is something I see in these other leaders (except for Cunningham who showed genuine remorse). They are true believers in their own cause. While others see them as a fraud, a phoney or a crook, they see themselves as victims. They arent sorry or full of regret or honest. They arent wracked with guilt or losing sleep. They are so far gone they cannot even see where they started from.
Steven's was a true believer. He asked for an early trial so he could run for election. He took the stand himself. He testified in a court of law how he didnt receive illegal gifts because he didnt' ask for the gifts and because he didnt want the gifts. The fact that he took the gifts and used the gifts doesnt seem odd to his internal logic. He clearly sees himself as innocent. He even accused the Bush justice department (the most feeble and corrupt justice department in decades) of injustice. Its so messed up you just have to laugh.
Except its not a laughing matter. These leaders of government and industry have done so much damage to our country and yet they see themselves as innocent victims who should be helped or even compensated.
The banks need a bailout. Wall Street needs a bailout. GM needs a bailout. Everyone needs a fucking bailout from taxpayers and yet we cannot find a dime of tax dollars to pay for teacher salaries or national healthcare. The irony is so thick you need hip waders and people are still out there running commercials about cutting taxes and tax-and-spend democrats or socialists. If bailing out wall street or GM isnt socialism I dont know what is. If it isnt a transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich, I dont know what is.
Im not a supporter of the blanket idea that we "throw the bums out" and change; there is a need for experience in government. But the past few months have me deeply suspicious of anyone who has been in Congress for more than 10 years. Stevens and McCain arent much different from Dodd and Franks from this perspective. As a simple tax payer, I dont know who to trust anymore.
Reality seems to be on hold these days and true believers abound. Over the next year I expect to see a steady stream of rich white old men going to court or testifying before congress or heading off to jail. I guess I always knew there were innocent men in prison.
