Parliament of Whores?

The gonzo, right-leaning journalist P.J. O'Rourke referred to the US Congress in such language in a book written about a dozen years ago. (I added the question mark. He was more direct.) It's been several elections later and very little has changed as far as how much emphasis money has on shaping our political destiny.

It is a frustrating fact that no matter whose favorite political party is in charge on Capitol Hill there always seems to always be fat-cat lobbying groups whose narrow interests triumph over the public good, or at the very least tilt the scales so that those interests are served first and the general welfare of the public gets second-best status. The resent profiteering by our "friends" in the oil companies is particularly galling in this regard. This was illustrated in full force by the Medford Mail Tribune in an editorial:

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070513/OPINION/705130301

In a larger sense, it may be the public fault that we have let things get to this stage. We should have been sending people to Congress who would address this country's "addiction to oil"--the President's words, not mine--rather than sending people who lighten theCAFE standards for the car companies. According to "Market Timer" economist Bob Brinker , we could have moved off of foreign oil needs if we had bumped up those standards a little bit on our highway vehicles. Instead, we are still beholden for getting much of our sources of energy that come from our other "friends" in places like hopelessly reactionary Saudi Arabia, hopelessly corrupt Nigeria and the hopelessly America-bashing Hugo Chavez who runs the oil game in Venezuela.

And who doesn't think the War on Iraq is the result of Big Oil's impact on our government or is, at the very least, a significant factor in our plans in entering that struggle?

And I'm not even going to go into deregulated hedge fund sharks and the prescription drug issue, also mentioned in the editorial. Other than to say what good is a drug if so many cannot afford it, or people have to choose between food or housing or some other necessity of life to acquire the drug?

OK,OK, I know I'm not seventeen anymore and I shouldn't be shocked by all this or anything. But I'm not shocked. Just tired. And wishing for a new paradigm to bring fewer hookers on both sides of the aisle into "the people's house".