Tag Archives: Graft

The Westside Pioneer

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There’s a little publication on the Colorado Springs west side that’s notoriously non-political. Maybe I shouldn’t say notorious, it’s just a neighborhood weekly. Let’s say it persistently proclaims its non-allegiance. And it’s true, it won’t print anything controversial or having to do with issues or the means to take action.
 
The other day however, on the lead article, above the fold, there appeared a headline bashing a Democratic candidate for pulling out of a scheduled debate. The scheming had been convoluted, the Republican having chosen a date which conflicted with another more broadly attended event. It was the kind of maneuvering which always attends political match-ups. Democrat Mike Merrifield had to pull out of the debate and the Westside Pioneer was there to flash the bulbs and gloat.

The supposedly non-partisan paper didn’t break it’s apolitical stand, it defends, rather it reported the truth. I say half the truth. Representative Merrifield wasn’t afraid to debate Republican Kyle Fisk, he indecorously had to sidestep the New Life Church protege’s trap. But the Westside Pioneer printed just the first half. The half that made the Democrat look bad.

An apolitical paper weighing in against the Democrats. Why am I not surprised?

Because when someone tells you they are non-political, they are actually endorsing the powers that be. Nothing political about those in power, oppressing, taking advantage, doing the milking, taking the lion’s share of the cream. To attempt to dislodge the corruptness is political. To ask that a newspaper call attention to the graft is political.

So what is the Westside Pioneer but a Bushite, Neocon, Warmonger, Social Security Thieving, Human Rights Abusing, Constitution Burning, Union Busting, Pro Big Business Globalization, Anti-community, Anti-small business, Anti-social safetly net, media tool. Well, the Westside Pioneer is probable nothing but Libertarian, opposing government involvement like overpasses and emminent domain. But that’s the rub with Libertarians. They do give a whit whether their welfare is advanced at the expense of another’s liberty. It’s every Libertarian for themselves.

The guy who sits on the fence, watching the wolves descend upon the sheep, not crying out but instead choosing to cry “nothing to see here,” may not be pro-wolf, but he’s certainly not looking out for the sheep. Too bad the sheep keep buying his paper.

Highway shoulder felons

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Adopt-a-RoadA close friend of mine wants to give more visibility to his grassroots political group by adopting a highway. In exchange for a small sign giving credit to the West End Democrats, we plan to don safety vests and one morning every month be mistaken for roadside chain labor.

Although “mistaken” might be a misnomer.

What an incredible abuse of the local resident! Adopt-A-Road. They’ve been doing it for ten years already because “it is not possible to keep up with the trash that thoughtless people…” Slash the budget for highway cleanup, then sell little signs on the side of the road in exchange for the priviledge of doing the cleaning up. That’s privatization, shift the burden to the citizen, no one to complain but the public.

And what a time to shift the responsibility! Half the brochure about the Highway Cleanup Program details the further complication of Meth-lab refuse. Amateur Meth-amphetamine laboratory rats know better than to throw their tell-tale byproducts into their dumpster. The only option for discrete waste disposal is out the car window while driving where no one sees you, on the highway. The Meth-Lab explosion has produced a highway litter epidemic. It’s less that the discarded chemicals are needed by the police for evidence, It’s more that they are toxic and endanger the garbage handlers, in this case volunteers in day-glo safety jackets trying to do a good deed.

It used to be there was a budget for these tasks. We built the highways and intended to maintain them. Somewhere along the line, between tax-cutting and graft, the public was handed back the shovel.
The highway cleanup scam looks to me like it shares the purpose of latrine duty. Do the work of untouchables and be seen doing it.

A good thing for the visibility of the West End Dems?

The fundraising portent

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I don’t know, I got the same feeling before the last election…

In 2004 Bush was messing up. It was becoming plain as day what a smug, incompetent shyster he was. A landslide for anybody-but-Bush seemed virtually assured. And yet-

And yet you’d hear that Bush was still raising money, finding backers, hosting dinners for rich people ready to bet Bush was going to win again.

Who puts money on a losing horse? Especially people who know how to handle money. It wasn’t a good portent.

What do you think nowadays when you hear that Bush still raises thousands at a fundraiser? Are people giving money to the GOP as a thank you for the job Bush has done? The huge tax break for the rich for example, or the defense contracts, or the oil revenue windfall?

Really? Do you think so? They paid for those favors the last go-round. The GOP hasn’t backed a single bit of legislation that wasn’t for constituents who weren’t already big GOP contributors.

More certainly Bush is still able to raise money because the rich are angling for new mega-billion dollar favors to come. These people know that to earn money you have to spend money.

The most disquieting aspect about this fund-giving to the GOP is that the rich are counting on further GOP victories. They’re not in the business of throwing their money away. They’re not betting that the GOP will stay in power, they’re anteing up. If they thought the Democrats would be winning in November the rich would register their bribes with the Democratic party.

That Bush is holding closed-door affairs while on the public payroll is the least of his offenses. Throughout his presidency, Bush cannot have acted with more discourtesy toward our Constitution. He is guilty of impeachable offenses and it doesn’t take a judge to see it. Every solitary person who hosts a fundraiser for him, or who gives him money, is behaving so selfishly un-American, I’d call it treason.

It’s graft, it’s undemocratic, and it’s cynically counting that you and I will not be able to see through the media blackout on the issues, the rigged voting system, and the false two-party choice.

Are the fundgivers scared? It appears not a whit. That scares me. Big win for the Democrats in November? They don’t think so.

Police state

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Ready to pounceIn Norway you can’t speed or run a light anywhere without getting a ticket. In Norway they have cameras mounted sporadically along the roadways so you have no choice but to drive properly. Even on a country road, even if you’re running late, it makes no sense to break the law and that’s rather stress-averting in itself.

As a result there are no police cars in sight. Thus Norway has order and civility, without law enforcement authorities loitering to catch you.

It’s an interesting trade-off. Big brother -in a bureaucratic sense- instead of beat cops. It reduces the possibility of human error, personality clashes, power trips, graft, or whatever other motive led that officer to a career in law enforcement.

British police officers, Bobbies, are required to wear the funny get-ups to counter the natural impulse a law enforcer might get to act too authoritively. Until recently most Bobbies were not even allowed to carry weapons.

In this country, the policemen’s Ray-bans, other masculine accouterments, and the big gun serve to promote machismo power tripping. Good for them, but not so terribly great for you. In American, even when you are behaving yourself, a person can’t help the reflex of holding their breath when they cross the path of law enforcement officers.

Have you noticed that they’re multiplying? More tickets mean greater revenue for police departments, mean more officers, means a police state.

War on the home front against us

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Are Americans at war with the Neocons? Have the Neocons declared was upon us, on our way of life, our civility, our humanitarian compassion, on social services, on health care, on a social safety net, on anybody who isn’t ungodly rich? Sure!
 
Katrina didn’t cause the death and destruction in New Orleans. The levees did.
 
The federal government did this. The gutting of resources for infrastructure, for preparedness. The graft at the top left nothing for those in need. And now they’re looking to the middle class for the money and effort to pick up after this national disaster.