A Scout is Trustworthy: I wonder about a US Senator...

[John-in-KC]

From craig.senate.gov:

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Idaho Senator Larry Craig issued the following statement in reaction to today''s ruling by the State of Minnesota District Court Fourth Judicial District allowing the guilty plea to stand:

 

"I am extremely disappointed with the ruling issued today. I am innocent of the charges against me. I continue to work with my legal team to explore my additional legal options.

 

"I will continue to serve Idaho in the United States Senate, and there are several reasons for that. As I continued to work for Idaho over the past three weeks here in the Senate, I have seen that it is possible for me to work here effectively.

 

 

 

And they wonder why we are so damn jaded about politicians. It''s obvious; they are WAFFLES:

 

"I''m Guilty, Your Honor."

NO

"Your Honor, I want to withdraw my plea."

 

"I intend to resign the Senate on September 30."

NO

"I will continue to serve Idaho in the United States Senate,..."

 

I''m almost ready to follow the public office advice of my physics teacher 30+ years ago: "When in doubt, throw the incumbents out."

 

I want men and women whose word is their bond in the State Legislatures, in the House, and in the Senate. I don''t want waffles.

[evmori]

Was Senator Craig a Scout?

[John-in-KC]

Ed,

 

To me it doesn''t matter. I expect my Legislators, at any level, to be men and women of honor. Nothing less will do.

[scoutingagain]

Well I read this morning Congress''s overall approval rating is somewhere in the mid to low 20''s, interms of percentage of those asked. Seems quite a few of us have a relative low opinion of legislators.

 

And you have the President with approval ratings about as low as they have ever been for any President since they''ve been taking poles.

 

I can''t believe this level of dissatifaction among the populace of it''s leaders is health for a society or a democracy. I don''t know what it means in the long run, but I find myself sharing the opinion of the majority.

 

SA

[evmori]

I''m with you on that, John, but the chances of an honest & trustworthy public servant seem slim.

[RangerT]

All this just goes to prove the old saying :

 

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

 

Political corruption in America goes all the way back to some members of the Continental Congress who secretly tried to replace Washington during the Revolutionary War, and Thomas Jefferson who covertly tried to undermine John Adams presidency with untrue rumors and inneuendos. Politics and Corruption just seem to go hand in hand.

[CA_Scouter]

I''m shocked, shocked I tell you! A politician not keeping his word?? Why, I''m just flabbergasted!

 

But I''ll tell ya, last time I went thru the Denver airport and used the facilities, I made sure not to take a wide stance! ( nor tap my feet ).

 

 

[John-in-KC]

Interesting point:

 

Called my Congresscritter''s local office. Shared my frustration. Guess what: His field staff is frustrated at Senator Craig as well. They see that his actions are sucking blood out of their man''s electoral life. He has enough challenges, they don''t need a professional twerp around.

[scottteng]

A senator of any state is worthy of trust about as far as you can pick him/her up and throw em. They are all politicians and thusly never met a camera they would not hog, a contribution they would not love, and a tax they would not vote for to steal money from you to buy a vote from someone else. Maybe we should go back to the constitutional way of having the states select senators.

[Trevorum]

I feel immense pity for Senator Craig. The poor fellow''s entire life has been a lie. Very sad.

[packsaddle]

Trevorum, ...and he''s not alone.

 

We can fuss and fume all we want but when we elect a representative, it is possible that the person really IS representative. Sometimes we get precisely what we ask for, it just takes a while for some element of reality to make itself known. While we condemn someone else for their self-deceptions, it may also be prudent to examine our own. And maybe next time elect a better one.

[TheScout]

Scottteng, you are right. You are right, the 17th Amendment was a bad idea.

[Lisabob]

Living as I do in Michigan where our state legislature is term limited (leading to a load of inexperienced people who have little to gain from compromising since they''re only there a short time anyway), and given that after a YEAR of haggling we still don''t really have a budget in place for FY ''08 which began last week, and given that these goof balls on both sides of the political spectrum are so wound up in pointing the finger at the other guy that they simply have not done their job and passed a real budget or dealt with any of the other big, long-term, important, state-level issues on their plates...

 

Given all of that, I am really thankful these maroons are not the ones electing my US Senators!

 

Now if you want to make a federalism argument (as I rather expect TheScout might do), that''s one thing. But anybody who thinks their state legislature is any more pure of heart and mind than the national gov''t, needs to look a little more closely.

 

 

 

[John-in-KC]

I think we touched one of Lisa''s buttons!

 

I have to agree though. While I can respect individual politicians, I find them, as a class, a bunch of buffoons.

 

Maybe we ought to hire the entire Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus clown department to be Congress.

 

EagleSon and I both love 1776, the musical. EagleSon has memorized John Adam''s opening speech: "I have been told that one useless man is called a DISGRACE, that two are called a LAW FIRM, and three or more become a CONGRESS!..."

 

Mark Twain and Will Rogers would both have field days over our current legislatures.

[scottteng]

The federalism concern is why the states need to choose them. Most of the states budgetary problems stem from the unfunded or partially funded mandates the present federal system imposes. That is why the states had their own body in Washington the senate to protect them from such things. Right now the states have no voice in the federal system as the congresspersons and senators do not affiliate themselves by state instead doing so by political party. Most states are prevented from deficit spending so must enact a balanced budget. The federal government also should follow the 10th amendment and stay out of matters that should be handled at a state or local level.