Illinois governor Blagojevich was caught soliciting bribes for the sale of a Senate seat. Congressman Jefferson had ill gotten funds hidden in his freezer. New York governor Spitzer was caught with whores. Barney Frank's boyfriend was running a sex for hire business out of the Congressman's condo. Senator Larry Craig couldn't keep his hands to himself in a men's restroom. Charles Rangel is in the middle of a mess over his taxes.
Why?
The answer may shock you. Because we have allowed ourselves to be manipulated by political campaign strategies to such an extent that we no longer hold any power. We have become disconnected voters. Our elected officials are like latchkey kids. We are so busy with our own lives that we don't take time to guide them, control them, correct them, spank them, ground them or banish them. All we do is react to their campaigns, vote for them and then go off shaking our heads, muttering tsk tsk, and waiting for the next round of battles to begin.
What do we need to do? Simple. Just like the strong hand of a loving parent we need to impose severe punishment at the first misstep. If three lawyers could be held in jail without bail in Kentucky for misdeeds in the handling of a class action settlement, surely governor Blagojevich should not have been bonded out.
If Larry Craig is making a joke of the Senate by keeping his seat, we need to send him packing right away. We need to stop calling for punishment for political views, like the calls to impeach George Bush over Iraq, but we should not let Bill Clinton avoid being removed from office only to go out on the world stage and rub our noses in his criminal conduct while in office.
In other words, it's time to take charge of the government ourselves once again, and demand that our elected officials begin to dismantle the bureaucracies, stop giving away our future and take off those silly holier than thou attitudes or risk being sent home for good.
Blagojevich is just the latest example of a severely infected political system in the United States. It's time for some strong medicine.
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