From Bilbo's Department of "Is This Guy Nuts or What?" come several interesting stories today.
In Illinois (The Land of Lincoln), Governor Rod Blagojevich has been arrested on a list of charges 78 pages long, including just about everything except forgetting to put the toilet seat down after peeing. Here is a statesman clearly interested in serving the people and doing what's right for the nation, discussing the problem of filling the Senate seat left vacant by Barack Obama's election to the presidency: the open Senate seat is "...a f***ing valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing." By the way, Governor Blagojevich is free on $4500 bail.
On the CNN website a few days ago, commentator Ruben Navarrette posted this amazing article: Obama Ignored Latinos for Top Posts. Perhaps it's just me, but I never thought government ought to be staffed by quota. You might think that a new president trying to staff an administration facing as many problems as this one is would try to hire the very best people available, regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation, or preferred breakfast cereal. Obviously, politics will play a part in the decisions (Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, for pete's sake?), but on balance, we need the very best people...not white or black people, not Christian or Jewish people, not Anglo or Latino people. Get a life, Mr Navarrette.
Representative Charles Rangel is being investigated by the House Ethics Committee on a list of charges which appears to include everything that didn't stick to Governor Blagojevich in Illinois. It does not, however, include "...the matter of Rangel steering $80,000 to his son to design his campaign Web site." And in the grand tradition of Congressmen under investigation, Mr Rangel does not intend to step down from his chairmanship of a key tax writing committee. I feel much better about my taxes now, don't you?
And looking farther afield, grand statesmen like Robert ("Zimbabwe is my personal ATM") Mugabe, Hugo ("Blame the Gringos For Everything") Chavez, and Mahmoud ("Let's Erase Israel From the Map") Ahmedinejad are still providing role models for the next generation of useless leaders.
Sometimes, even President Bush doesn't look bad.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
Sometimes, even President Bush doesn't look bad.
ReplyDeleteYou are joking right?
Money can't buy happiness, but apparently it can buy a politician or a political appointment.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Mistress and I agreed with you....until that 2nd last line.
ReplyDeleteIt just shows he has plenty of company.
John: this is news??
oh, the whole latino issue with obama's cabinet makes me so mad. as a latina myself, i didn't assume obama was going to fill his cabinet with brown people just b/c the majority of latinos voted for him. i would expect him to fill his cabinet with qualified people, regardless of race or gender.
ReplyDeleteAndrea and Katherine - I guess you couldn't see how far my tongue was stuck into my cheek.
ReplyDeleteJohn - just goes to show we have the best government money can buy!
OCgirl - we're on the same wavelength. I'll ride the Metro with you any day!
This post made me think about my "auld" scottish granny.
ReplyDeleteHer mantra 40+ years ago was "You can trust a thief but you can never trust a liar"
GW is ugly!
I think it's the last 5 governors of Illinois that have been corrupt. As both parties have been involved over the years it seems to be an equal opportunity money grab.
ReplyDeleteI read the same exact news within the past week and it didn't seem quite as funny the first time around. I love your sarcastic spin on world news. tee hee.
ReplyDeleteI've heard about the seat-selling...it made me laugh!
ReplyDelete