Blog Oy Vey Itch and Other Acts of Political Chutzpah
It's funny. When I don't write a column for a few weeks at a time, the stock question is "Why haven't you written something in a while?" But when I actually do get around to posting something new, I get, "Why did you have to write about THAT?"
After being pretty consistent before the election, why did I slow down? Why, you ask, did I post only one little blog giblet for Thanksgiving? Well, what can I say? In the wake of the election, everything at once became...perfect. No complaints. No problems. Everyone was happy. We made history electing our country's first African American POTUS. We made history by having the first competent, presidential-looking president this millenium. And, as I might humbly note, the title of my little internet-based journal here is Roasted Nuts. Who was left to roast? The planets were aligned in perfect harmony.
Unfortunately, the history-making election left us a huge void in scandals. It was a bit like creating a vacuum. When everything gets sucked out (like the Bush administration), something needs to refill it. Nature abhors a vacuum, and so does the political world.
The bell jar in which that vacuum was created finally exploded when it was filled with Rod Blagojevich. The governor, who was apparently already suspected of being a bit corrupt, made headlines as he apparently attempted to sell Obama's former senate seat to the highest bidder. In what can only be described as a middle-school production of Plunkett of Tammany Hall, we've all gone aghast at the sheer outrageousness of the scandal. Not only was it (allegedly) a terrible thing to do, but he did so in a tacky way. Even Sarah Palin has complained about the lack of public accountability in the Senate seat sale, arguing the seat should have been placed on eBay.
Like all good scandals, we have a poiltican who refuses to fess up, even with all of the apparent evidence right smack dab in his face. As a defense lawyer, I should be arguing for "innocence until proven guilty", but the real mantra is, really, "guilty until proven stupid. and then guiltier."
Sadly, Jesse Jackson Jr was embroiled in the scandal, and in response disclosed that he had actually been informing on Blago for the last 10 years, ever since he realized that his wife was denied an appointment because Jackson failed to give a $25,000 donation to the governor.
The good news is that I see a new trend coming aroud the bend. Political informants. Soon we'll see a parade of high level politicians who all claim to be proud to have been finking on the governor. We haven't had a good impeachment in this country in a while, either. Perhaps they can re-enact the Governor and First Lady trash-talking about how much the seat is worth and what they should get. That sounds like the kind of re-enactment worthy of Dateline or America's Most Wanted. I'll sit back ad watch
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