Guest Commentary: The Eloquent Pogo

(Today, veteran radio personality John Wrisley is taking up his walking stick and giving it a curmudgeonly shake in the direction of voters who seem unclear on the concept of why we have representative government. I shall resume my crusty commentaries tomorrow.)
The Eloquent Pogo
written by John Wrisley (used by permission)
Pogo's general philosophy suited me fine, and I miss him. Every Christmas I lift an eggnog in his honor and sing, "Deck us all in Boston, Charlie! Walla Walla, Wash, and Alley-garoo." Sometimes I'm tempted to hop a bus for Waycross, Georgia and hunt for him. I'd borrow or rent a bateau and paddle around in the Okefenokee Swamp hollering, "Pogo-o-o-o! Where ARE you? We n-e-e-e-ed you!!"
You'd think we grown-ups could get along quite nicely without the advice and wise-cracks of an opossum from South Georgia, but as history is made right before my eye-bones I'm convinced we're making a grand mess of a formerly proud nation and may never straighten things up without someone of Pogo's statesman-like wisdom telling us what we're doing wrong.
One of the most important phrases of the 20th century was uttered by Pogo in 1970. "We have met the enemy, and he is US!" We have since forgiven the little critter for stealing the line from U.S. Navy Commodore Oliver H. Perry who, in 1813, sent a message to an army general declaring, "We have met the enemy, and they are ours." Besides, Pogo's renowned version more accurately describes the present state of political affairs in the USofA.
Republicans would not admit to being their own enemy, nor would Democrats look in mirrors for people to blame. The poor continue to blame the filthy rich for their plight, and the bewildered middle class sees the purchasing power of the once mighty U.S. dollar evaporating in their pockets, but they have no idea whom to blame. They don't even save any of it any more. What's the point? The interest it yields doesn't keep up with inflation, so they just borrow whatever they need to keep up with their wants. "Spending money they don't have for things they don't need," one wag remarked.
Were Pogo on the scene you can bet he'd have some sharp quips about our behavior. He'd wonder why consumers and government bureaucrats are frantically digging themselves into a debt hole they can't crawl out of. "What must these idiots be thinking?" he'd remark. "They could duct tape together all the extension ladders at Lowe's and never get out of that pit."
Pogo would also be amazed that we stand still to let a full blown WAR be paid for on the credit card. Up until foolish politicians invented the "guns and butter principle" citizens of a nation that wanted to go to war had to sacrifice a big chunk of their living standard to pay for it. It was unthinkable to prosecute a war any other way. Today the political weaklings who run the country would dare not call upon citizens to pay the bills of military adventure. It's easier to borrow a couple of billion dollars a day from foreigners. Citizens aren't even asked to buy War Bonds any more!
The denizens of the Okefenokee Swamp may be peeking at us from amidst the Spanish moss and remarking about our foolish conduct. Simple J. Malarkey might mutter something about debtors becoming slaves of creditors, but wouldn't push the point. He would observe almost at once that we like being slaves, as long as our masters keep the the cable services priced within our means and brewers keep the prices low on beer.
Before he turns, sadly, to vanish into the swamp Pogo might quote his friend Walt Kelly who wrote; "There is no need to sally forth, for it remains true that those things which make us human are, curiously enough, always close at hand. Resolve then, that on this very ground, with small flags waving and tinny blasts on tiny trumpets, we shall meet the enemy, and not only may he be ours, he may be us!"
Is there an echo in the swamp?
March 20, 2006
(To read more of John Wrisley's wise and witty remarks, visit him at his website at www.wrisley.com).

How We Created the Mess in Washington, Part 2

Suppose we could somehow always know who the best person to represent us in Washington is. Suppose we were always right. We’re still left with the old man’s opinion, “Even if you elected Billy Graham to Congress, he’d become corrupt.” Actually, he was right.
It goes back to the Rotten Barrel Theory. It’s not that a few rotten apples spoil the whole barrel; it’s just that a rotten barrel spoils the apples. We’re partly responsible for the rottenness of that barrel.
We vote for the ones we think are the best people for the job; then we leave them to fend for themselves. Our congressmen need supervision. Strange as it seems, some of them need their constituents to hold their feet to the fire.
I mean it. I have heard some congressmen say privately that they know what they should be doing, but they’re under considerable pressure to do the wrong things. People with oceans of money threaten them with defeat in the next election if they don’t cave in. Those same congressmen have said that they’d like to be able to say that their constituents are angry and would ensure their defeat if they do the wrong thing. In short, they'd like as much pressure coming from us on certain issues as they're getting from greedy big shots.
Of course, I’m talking about the Congressmen who’ve not become corrupt--the ones who are not beholden to the banksters, Big Pharma, and the military-industrial complex. In the 1930’s movie Dracula, Renfeld wasn’t as subservient to the Prince of Darkness as many of our congressmen are. Likewise, I don’t see any hope for Nancy Pelosi seeing the light, either. (Like Lucy Westenra, also in the movie Dracula, Nancy Pelosi seems quite averse to the light of day.) She also seems perfectly content in her role as the Tammy Faye Bakker of Congress.
When I came to the realization that our congressmen need to hear from us, their constituents, I came to another realization: We need to educate ourselves. That was about the time I heard the remark, “Congressmen are like cockroaches. You shouldn’t be as concerned about what they’ll steal and carry off as what they’ll fall into and mess up.”

In those days, congressmen were content to steal only what they could carry off, which usually amounted to millions of dollars. Now they’re stealing trillions by borrowing it in our name for us to repay, and flooding the economy with fiat dollars that reduce the purchasing power of the dollars we already have. Incredibly, they’re using the rationale that they’re enriching us by further impoverishing us.
It took me almost ten years to realize that we needed to do more than just elect “the right person to the right office.” Afterwards, I devised a formula for what else we, as voters, should be doing.
We should inform ourselves on the issues of concern to us. We should inform other citizens. We should inform our elected officials and keep them under close supervision. (See my earlier article, “How to Contact Your Congressman.”) It was at that point that I became less focused on elections and more focused on political education.
(Speaking of educating yourself, I’d be remiss if I didn’t provide a helpful link so that you can see how your Senator or congressman voted on issues of concern to you. What those issues are, and how you feel about them is your decision. I won’t decide for you. Go to Open Congress.)
For about five years or so, I thought that my formula for cleaner politics should be enough. It wasn’t. As I went deeper into causes and solutions, I found the root of the problem—and, with it, a hint of a solution. At least one of the people on my mailing list knows exactly what the most important thing we can do to ensure more responsive—and responsible—representation is. I’ll discuss it in the next article.

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Americans are Coming Together

I recently read an email from a neoconservative, would-be Paul Revere. Or,at least he seemed to be riding on Paul Revere's horse. In his post, he breathlessly warned everyone interested in reading his screed that “liberals” were “infiltrating” the Tea Parties as part of a “divide and conquer strategy.”
Let’s back up a few years—say, about 46 years or more. In 1964, there were two main branches of the Republican Party: Goldwater Republicans and the Rockefeller Republicans. Outside the party were the unabashed liberals.
The liberals embraced Tea Party issues even back then, although their views on the matter were somewhat inchoate.
As of 1988, when the elder Bush ran for President, Rockefeller Republicans became known as neo-conservatives. The neo-cons are now found in both major political parties. Henry Kissinger (Republican) was a protégé of Nelson Rockefeller; Zbigniew Brzenzinski (Democrat) is a protégé of Henry Kissinger. It was the Rockefeller Republicans (neocons) who were most responsible for giving the Republican Party its reputation for being a party of the rich at the expense of the poor.
We were all foolish in those days—most of us, anyway. Liberals tended to condemn any corporate profit as fascism, regardless of how honestly the profits were obtained. Conservatives would roll their eyes and praise any profit making, and call it free enterprise, regardless of how much of it was profiteering at taxpayer expense. No matter how many billions were stolen by the malefactors of great wealth, it was excused on the fraudulent rationale of free enterprise. On the other hand, any welfare mother who kept her small bank account a secret from the Welfare Gestapo was a “welfare queen.”
Now, both liberals and conservatives are faced with blatant fascism on a multi-trillion-dollar scale. Remember, the liberals were the first to cry, “Fascism,” and, “Corporate Welfare.” Now that the Tea Partiers have taken up the cry, do you see them telling the liberals that they’ve seen the light? No. Many of them are letting the Rockefeller Republicans con them into telling the liberals to stay away from “their” party.
I'm not saying that liberals and conservatives are acting from the same motives. Take the attempted healthcare overhaul for example. Conservatives oppose it mainly on the constitutional ground that healthcare is not a federal issue; and on the free market ground that, for all its faults, America's healthcare system is still more efficient than the government healthcare system found on Native American reservations. Liberals oppose it because it appears specifically designed to shovel billions of taxpayer dollars at corrupt corporations in such industries as Big Pharma and the health insurance monopolies; and that it would bring American healthcare down to the level of that which is found on the Native American reservations.
Either set of arguments flies very well, but the liberals, having the more populist argument, have the best chance of resonating with American voters. It is any wonder, then, that the Rockefeller Republicans and Rockefeller Democrats are so eager to keep the liberals away from the Tea Parties? Talk about “divide and conquer!” It's the neocons who are desperately trying to keep Americans divided against one another.
Apart from one another, the liberals and the conservatives can do little to sweep the rats out of Congress. The numbers of either group are too small, especially if liberals and conservatives work against one another. Together, we can do it; and together we must do it!
The one issue that unites us is whether our congressmen represent us, their constituents; or the banksters, war profiteers, and other scoundrels of their ilk. We have just over 200 days between now and the 2010 congressional elections. I'll try to share as much as I can to help you decide—no, I won't decide for you—whether your congressman is one of the few honest men or women remaining in Congress and deserving of re-election. Of the 345 members of Congress, I seriously doubt that there are more than 45 honest men and women; the rotten barrel has spoiled that many apples. If in doubt, vote him out.
In a future article, I'll share with you the results of several polls that show that, for the first time in memory, we can change Congress. We can drive the money changers from the temple and replace them with honest Americans. But, to do this, we must work together.