Broken Thumb Blog

You volunteered for this. You had your name put on a ballot. You actively solicited the people's trust. You promised, on their behalf, to make decisions affecting their lives. You told them you would do it better than the other candidate. You were elected and swore an oath. You got a staff and an office funded by the public treasury.

And now who do you think you are? They call you a distinguished gentleman, but are you really? What do you do with your constituents' trust? What do you do with the office they granted you? Do you spend your time meeting donors and lobbyists? Do you take long lunches to accomodate that third martini? Do you barter votes--perhaps a soldier won't have armor so a courthouse can bear your name? Do you take pompous stands on matters that make the news but do little else?

You are a public figure. You hold public office. You are a servant of the people. You have no right to privacy. You have no right to personal aggrandizement. You have no right to confound the commonweal, to violate the sanctity of office, or to comport yourself outside the bounds of decency. You have no right to disregard your obligation to the people, to their interests, or to the oath you swore.

So why do we let you do it? Why do we fill the People's House with you lackeys, sycophants, alcoholics, and self-serving cretins? Why do we choose to overlook your personal foibles when we are so dependent on you? Why don't we choose men and women of substance, dignity, and character? Why don't we expect you to demonstrate such things before we send you to Washington?

Who and what you are is a reflection of us. As a people, we choose to be ignorant. We allow you to be evasive. We refuse to ask tough questions. We don't challenge your comments or your votes. We don't plumb the depths of your civic virtues. We instead exist between elections in a political coma, rousing ourselves only long enough to cast a ballot.

Our indifference to you enables your indifference to us. Our negligence, our lack of political participation, our willing ignorance is the basis of your power. But never forget that we control these things. When we choose to be roused against you, then you will know what you failed to represent. We will re-assert our claim on you, strip you of office, and return another.

If you want your private life, Congressman, get out of the People's House.

I can't resist...honestly I can't.

It seems that authorizing war in Iraq, wholesale disregard of the constitution (i.e. overlooking torture, renditions, domestic wiretaps and military tribunals), a slavishness to the will of the Executive Branch, and countless other public travesties will not undo the Congress. Instead, electoral upheaval is about to come from a bevy of emails and instant messages sent between a lecherous Florida Congressman and some young adults who must have found it cool to get the old fart horned up.

I'm not going to excuse any of the parties involved in this whole affair. Nor will I blame them. I couldn't care less where responsibility lies. Perhaps it's with the Congressional leadership. Perhaps it's with the media. Perhaps it's even with the current youth culture, innocently trusting electronic media to be a safe forum for all manner of discussion with all manner of people. None of it concerns me.

Congress has always harbored lecherous, alcoholic hypocrites. While in the capital, few of them make an effort to hide their egregious behavior. Separated from the moderating influence of neighbors and acquaintances, politicians are free to indulge themselves in the spoils of power. Their worldview is skewed by an endless train of supplicants, sycophants and influence-peddlers. Their notion of what's "acceptable" blurs into their notion of what's "re-electable."

I accept that. Besides, who really cares...they're only human, right. If being a Congressman in DC were less fun than being an exterminator in North Texas, who would run for office?

This opinion will--no doubt--lay me open to charges of "citizenycism", but it's true that power and its proximity cause people to behave differently. Watch the way employees flatter the boss, complimenting an ugly tie or laughing at a stupid joke. How long does it take before the boss begins to think himself not only a snappy dresser but a budding comedian too?

I understand how power makes Congresspeople do stupid things, but I don't understand why the electorate is so stupid. Who voted for this guy? And why should the whole mid-term election be about this anyway? Vote the bastards out for the things they've done against the republic, not for their private indiscretions.

Yes, it's the irony that gets me.