The Way Things Are

If you voted for the Republicans this year because you thought that they would bring you change from what you think the Democrats did to you in the past eight years, then guess what?  You just got conned.  Again.

Make no bones.  Both parties are full of crooks.  The lure of easy --- and usually tax-free --- money is too great for most to resist.   You can kick out every incumbent, and the next batch will be just as crooked as soon as all of the special interest groups, lobbyists, etc. start buttonholing them.  And that takes less than a week, if that.  You can't change human nature, and with humans, it's all about the money and all about the power.

You think the government runs this country?  The government is just one giant conglomeration of puppets.

BIG BUSINESS AND SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS RUN THIS COUNTRY.

Reread that last sentence --- the one in all caps and bold type --- until you know it by heart.  Reread it until you understand what it means.  Reread it until you accept it as the truth, because it IS the truth.

You could put 100 Democrats (or 100 Republicans) in the Senate and 435 Democrats (or 435 Republicans) in the House, and we'd STILL have Liberals and Conservatives within a month.  Why?  Because Big Business and Special Interest Groups  (hereafter referred to as BB and SIG or SIGs) WANT both.  Some SIGs want Liberal stances.  Example: the farm corporations that hire migrant workers --- they don't want the illegal immigrants kicked out; who would work those jobs at less than minimum wage?.  Other SIGs want Conservative stances (like the gun sellers --- gun control laws mean fewer guns sold).  Those are two simple examples, but there are thousands upon thousands, because there are thousands and thousands of SIGs, and sometimes a SIG will want both Liberal and Conservative stances for different purposes.

Hereafter, I will refer to Special Interest Groups as SIG for one or SIGs for more than one.

Now in the meantime, SOME (not all) Congress and Executive folks try to squeeze in a little time to help the people who elected them --- you know, the people who they're supposed to serve: the ones in their state or district.  And that opens a whole new can of worms, because much of the time what the people want goes against what one or more SIGs want.   Example: The environmentalists want better pollution control.  Big Business doesn't want better pollution control because it costs money.    And that brings about one of the great mind-manipulations of the past 200 years: convincing people that global warming is a hoax --- I assure you that it is not, but that's the subject of another column.

And that creates a whole new problem for the politician, because she can't always satisfy BB SIGs if it means she'll be out of office next January 3rd.   What most politicians have found out is that they can please the BB SIGs about 80% of the time and throw a few crumbs to the people the rest of the time (mostly near Election Day)  and stay in office.

Do you like being treated that way?  Neither do I.

While both parties are all about their SIGs, the party that has more time to help the people who elect them are the Democrats.  That's been true for at least the past 60 years.   Think differently?  What kind of people belong to unions?  The working class.  Which party do almost all unions support?  Democrats.   What party do environmentalists --- you know, the ones who want our children to have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, animal rights, etc. --- belong to?  Democrats.   Which party looks out for the common Joe's and Julie's?  Democrats.  The Republicans have so many BB SIGs in their ears wanting this or that done that they don't have much time for the common people.

So while all politicians are on the take, the ones who have more time to help YOU --- and I don't care if you're a factory worker in Akron Ohio or if you own  your own business in Cheyenne Wyoming --- are the Democrats.

If you don't understand that, and you want to cling desperately to what Daddy Rush Limbaugh, Uncle Sean Hannity and Fox News tell you, then go rant on Yahoo News like the rest of the puppets do, and save yourself the time of reading this blog any longer.  Because with very few exceptions, I do not like Republicans or what they stand for.  I'm not really fond of a lot of the Democrats either  but ---- and this is important --- I know that I have a better chance of getting what's important to me done with a Democrat than I ever will have with a Republican.

In the next column, I'll tell you all about the greatest huckster of all time.  P.T. Barnum had nothing on this guy.  He redefined the art of the confidence game --- and managed to con nearly 50 million people in the process.  You know who I'm talking about.