Either a) Matt Taibbi is an out and out liar and should be locked up for life for spreading malicious gossip about those who rule over us or b) Washington is as corrupt as any third-world, third-rate autocracy and we’re all screwed.
In case you don’t know Matt Taibbi writes for Rolling Stone, Washington is his beat, and his most recent article is entitled THE WORST CONGRESS EVER (RS1012 11/2/06). MT writes in a delightfully sarcastic, biting way and doesn’t pull his punches: “This is a Congress where there is little or no open debate and virtually no votes are left to chance…what you see on C-Span is just empty theater, the world’s most expensive trained-dolphin act.”
Ouch!
There’s no doubting which side of the political fence MT and RS sit but, until I see GWB’s henchmen serving MT with a writ, I’m hearing him say things which frighten the life out of me…
“Despite an international uproar about Abu Ghraib, Congress spent only twelve hours on hearings on the issue. During Clinton’s administration, by contrast, the Republican Congress spent 140 hours investigating the presiden’t alleged misuse of his Christmas-card greeting list.”
and…
“While Congress did nothing about Iraq, Katrina, wiretapping (or) Mark Foley’s boy-madness…it has been all about political favors, all about budget ‘earmarks’ set aside for expensive and often useless projects in their own districts. In 2000, Congress passed 6,073 earmarks; by 2005, that number had risen to 15,877. They got better at it every year. It’s the one thing they’re good at.”
he concludes…
“Congress has embarked on a never-ending party, a wild daisy-chain of golf junkets, skybox tickets and casino trips.”
There’s more, plenty more, but you’ll have to just read the article for yourself. My point is this: tomorrow is polling day. It’s entirely possible that however you vote the new Congress might not act differently. But it’s just possible that we might be able to send a message and get our Congress back.
Go and vote!
In the meantime I’ll be watching to see if MT gets sued. My guess is he’s telling the truth and no-one will dare to make a comment. How frightening is that?