Maundering again

I start these blog entries with the intent to make them witty and entertaining. I end up failing horribly. If we were to meet informally, say at a party or at the bail hearing following the raid on said party, you might find me amusing and maybe even charming. That could depend upon how much alcohol you had consumed and whether you were in the euphoric stage or had progressed to the aftermath. But on a blog, there is little informality. I cannot react and adjust to your mood because I cannot see your bloodshot eyes or smell the booze on your breath. You could very well be sober. I am not funny when you are sober.

It's even harder on Saturdays. Because on Saturdays I delve into the political. And there is nothing particularly funny about politics these days. There are, of course, political jokes. One that comes to mind is a bumper sticker that goes:

Poli - meaning many,
Ticks -bloodsucking parasites.

It's funny because it has an underlying truth about it. Of course, it is only true about everyone else's senator or representative. Mine is fine. Unless he somehow won when I voted for his opponent. Then he is just another bloodsucking parasite. And therein lies the problem. We tend to support incumbents simply because they are already there. Even if we do not especially like them. The behavior we despise in someone else's favorite political figure is tolerated (even admired by some) in our own.

We should have a common set of standards for political office holders. Something that would preclude the random sampling of interns, say. Maybe the loss of a person's life due to a bit of drunken driving might result in an end to a political career. We sometimes seem to be moving in that direction. I recall a recent governor or two having to resign because of an affair with an aide of the same sex or getting caught being a client of prostitutes.

It wasn't always this way. A certain member of the House had a roommate who was operating a gay prostitution ring out of the member's D.C. townhouse. A recent House member won his primary even though he had several ethical lapses regarding his taxes and his misuse of rent-controlled apartments. Its a bit of a mixed bag.

I don't mean to pick on Democrats. Really. Its just that the Republicans who get caught tend to resign and become lobbyists and Elder Statesmen.

There really is only one way to rectify the situation. V.O.T.I.

Vote
Out
The
Incumbents

Now, I am sure there are a few worth retaining. I just have no idea who those few are. And I would bet no one else does.

We tend to elect and re-elect our jokes. We ought to stop that.