Since the words "corruption" and "impeachment" are on every American's minds ...

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Oops! In the second paragraph I meant to say: Hillary's run, not fun. Silly me!

I'm not sure what you meant by your response to my second point. Were you saying that women are just as capable to hold the office, or as being political? Either way I would agree.

Hello Guardian,

Hmmm ... yes, as I read back on my words, they don't seem very clear, do they?

What I meant was that the tarnish has been building up on the silver for some time.

You're right that many Feminists would desire to protect their 'sisters', who've made it into positions of power, at any cost. Though powerful women, doing right and wrong, have been making news for years. If the original goal was to prove that women can do anything that a man can do -- then certain women have proven that women can be just as corrupt as any man. The cat's out of the bag. Trying to present the image that women do not have the propensity to be as equally as corrupt as a man seems somewhat silly to me, and intellectually dishonest! They can't have it both ways!

Though, certainly there must be Feminists who would not sacrifice their own integrity for the sake of a corrupt
'sister', right?

Hello Lilwonders,

I'm in full agreement about term limits for the Senate and the House. Though, many more limitations are necessary to prevent the kind of corruption that D.C. seems to draw.

As for the 'one bad step ... and you're out' concept: While that may be a bit extreme, (especially if it included minor mistakes) in order to establish true ethics reform, 'We The People' would have to hammer D.C. with all our energy to get a law passed that actually held our elected officials criminally responsible for their actions, while in office.

Right now, they are completely exempt from criminal prosecution for their illegal, corrupt actions. They can only face an ethics investigation and possible censure or impeachment. So, even if they're found guilty, the worst that happens is that the are removed from office -- but will still collect a very cushy retirement pension.

I agree with you completely! Though finding any elected representative to sponsor the bill would be next to impossible. Who would be willing to put their own head on the 'chopping block'?

I do not mean minor things. Heck everyone is human. But things like lying about WMDs and being in the pockets of lobbyist or special interests groups would be high on my list, or in the case of our current congress "doing nothing" those would be offenses to get kicked out for. Be productive or get out.

Hello Lilwonders,

Thanks for the clarification! Oh, and no doubt the majority of Americans would agree about the productivity issue. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time in our history that the American People's approval rating has been this low of any Congress.

Hello Destiny,

Bingo! I'm glad you picked up on the fact that Diane Feinstien now heads the Senate Ethics Committee. Meaning, that she is the one voice who decides to pursue or table an ethics investigation!!!

Diane Feinstein's swindling has been going on for years. Throughout both the Jack Abramoff, and Tom Delay scandals! Yet, nary a word on the largest act of criminal profiteering, to date!

Oh, and speaking of Abramoff, and Indian Gaming money -- how 'bout spreading out some of the investigations into Sen. Barbara Boxer's son? Yup, some very questionable ties to the same Indian Gaming money that Abramoff had, have also been linked to Barbara Boxer's son. This while Barbara Boxer has remained one of Diane Feinstein's most vocal defenders! I simply have to wonder why?

The why is simple, they are protecting each other.

Most likely they are into each other's action.

The liberals in Congress is nothing more than a den of thieves, and the more attention they can keep on Bush, the less attention they draw to their own misdeeds.

There are a whole lot of Bush haters out there that make this type of thing ridiculously easy, and as we all know... It ain't illegal until you get caught.

This is mostly why I believe that there can be no real change until Congress is cleaned out and the government taken back by the people.

As a veteran, I am appalled at this behavior.

Hello Destiny,

I agree that they are protecting each other. And, not just Feinstein & Boxer. I believe the article linking to Feinstein's veiled threat to the challenge by another Senator perfectly demonstrates this.

Though, let's not fool ourselves. Democrats & Republicans are equal opportunity thieves. The 2006 election, where the Republican's lost their majority because of earmarks and wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, was a concerted effort by average Republican citizens to 'stay home' on election day, and not support Republicans who had acted in exactly the same fashion as their 'esteemed collegues across the aisle'. Still, none can argue that Nancy Pelosi promised us the 'moon' regarding ethical standards, and responsible governance -- yet it is looking like she will go down in the annals of history as the worst Speaker of the House, ever! Or so say the pundit historians.

You do make an excellent point about "Bush hating" though. That is one of the oldest strategic tactics ever. Divert attention on to another, so that your own scheming and scamming goes unnoticed. Regardless of whether the first party is doing their own scheming and scamming, or not.

Destiny, I don't recall if I have ever thanked you for your service. If I have not, please allow me to do so now. All Veterans are deserving of our sincerest respect and appreciation for their selfless service to our nation. You are among a rare and special breed! If I may ask, what Branch did you serve with?

These are excellent points about the republicans and why they lost the majority.

Wasteful spending, earmarks, and special interests... and the appearance that they didn't know how to lead, or what to do with the majority that they had.

The Democrats winning back the majority had less to do with democrat votes and more to do with pissed off republicans who saw nothing being done.

An excellent example are the Bush tax cuts... Why were they not made permanent when the republicans had the majority and the ability to do so?

The democrats promised change, and ethics, and a return to responsible spending. They also promised to get us out of Iraq.

We are still in Iraq, and we have wasteful spending, earmarks and special interests.

Other than making the earmarks harder to find and remove, and the democrats threatening the republicans for speaking against the hidden earmarks... which in itself was a violation of ethics and House Rules.... which Pelosi chose to ignore because it was a democrat who did it...

Where is the change that the democrats promised?

The status quo is unaltered, the only thing different is the letter behind the names.

I enlisted in the Army in November 1974.

Apparently Vietnam was still winding down because the next summer we all got a service ribbon for serving over 180 days in the Vietnam Era.

Hell I didn't even know the war was still going on when I enlisted, as far as I knew it had ended.

So I am known as a Vietnam Era Vet. I saw no action, and was never in Vietnam.

I took my basic at Ft.Jackson, spent a couple of years at Ft. Hood, and finished my time at Pinder Barracks next Zirdorf Germany.

While I was at Ft. Hood, we began changing the camouflage paint from Jungle Green to Desert Tan, and were told that the next war would require it because it was going to be in the desert.

I guess they were right.

Wow! So, you're saying that The Army knew in '74-'75 that Desert Tan was going to a more appropriate camoflouge than Green? Hmmm, do you remember if any other explanation was offered for that? I actually find that amazing!

Hubby served in Germany, as well. Though, that was '80-'83. I don't remember exactly where in Germany.

This would have been in 1976 because it was just before I left for Germany.

They did not go into any details or offer any other explanations, so I guess we knew all we needed to know.

Carter had just been elected, and the Mideast was beginning to heat up. The Iran Hostage Crisis was still 3 years off.

I was curious and just did a search and ran across this little gem, that may explain it a bit better ...

"A Middle East Nuclear Proliferation Scenario 1976" ...http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0742498

You should note that the date of the report is Oct 1971.

I figure that is as good an explanation as any.

They ran a computer model and figured that the Mideast would be the next logical place for a war to break out that we could participate in.

Now the link works ...

http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0742498

Just to clear it up a bit, Carter was about to be elected but Ford was still in office at that time.

Wow! That IS trippy! 1971?

No one can ever say that the military doesn't have it's fair share of the truly brilliant.

Yep, it pretty well negates the whole "War For Oil' argument...

Hello Nickventere,

Thank you for the complimentary words about the documentation of this discussion.

While I understand how you might conclude that our elected are weighted down with more than their share of corruption, I would caution that blaming the entire U.S. society for the actions of our elected would be no more fair or accurate than blaming all Zambians for the execution style murder of Paul Tembo.

If it is proven that Katele Kalumba, Peter Machungwa, and Godden Mandandi not only illegally skimmed the $625,000, but are proven to be linked to Paul Tembo's murder, then it is those three and their thugs or assasins who should be blamed for this horrific action. It would be intellectually dishonest and distinctly unfair to blame all Zambians for this heinous crime, right?

According to "Transparency International", Zambia "is among the world's most corrupt countries..." http://query.nytimes.com/... so, The People of Zambia have woken up, and are demanding accountability from their elected. For this I give The Zambian People great praise. And if former president Frederick Chiluba ends up in jail for his alleged corruption, then all the better for The People.

I would personally like to see Diane Feinstein go 'the way of' Xavier Chungu, Mr. Chiluba's spymaster, and Mr. Chilbu himself. Though, that won't happen until more American's wake up, the way your Zambian brethren have awoken.

In summary, I would caution you that blaming The American People for the corruption of their elected governance is no less erroneous than blaming the Zambian People for the corruption of their elected governance. Since you and I both seem to abhor corruption, I would suggest that we work together to expose it at every turn. With the goal of eradicating it, once and for all. Sound like a plan?

You make a great point, Red!

Yes, the heads of law enforcement are overwhelmingly appointed, not elected. And yes, I deeply share your concerns of cronyism & protection of the 'hand that feeds them', in this regard.

Ah yes, the first stone thrown must be by one who is squeaky clean, or has nothing to lose. A rare find indeed!

What I find most troubling is that the American People seem unwilling to root out the corruption of D.C. What will finally arouse us from our rose-colored reality, and embrace of apathy?

"What will finally arouse us from our rose-colored reality, and embrace of apathy?"

Well, simply speaking the truth of the matter is not doing it. The population at large is in denial. Generally, people so afflicted require a catastrophic negative result to wake them up. It will not be pretty, but I do not know what it will be.

Thanks for the follow up, Red,

Like you, I have no idea what will finally wake up 'We The People'. Though, I hope that it happens sooner, rather than later -- and focuses on intellect and not anarchy!

Apathy in America, 6th grade reading level for MOST Americans, one cannot help but wonder how we have become so "Dumbed Down". California is also the state that just recently ruled "homeschooling" to be illegal and the "state controls the rights to the children". Perhaps if we look closer at the history of education in America we might see why we are so apathetic. I found this link very interesting: http://www.americanpolicy... if you are pressed for time, watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.5IAqrsMpale

Interesting that some great politicians are "getting" caught while others continue in their positions of authority.

That's an interesting link on the 'dumbing down' of American students. Thanks.

Hello Mizrae,

I'm just on my way to a meeting. I'll review your link, and comment when I return. Thanks for the addition. I imagine that a clear link can be drawn between education and apathy. Looking forward to reading it!

Hello Mizrae & All,

The link that Mizrae provided above is a very important read. As such, I'll share it again:
http://www.americanpolicy... is an excellent expose of how and why education affects our political system. Though, I think that it goes even farther in explaining how we can have millions of Americans blindly following corrupt politicians and parties. Thanks for sharing it, Mizrae!!!

The study strongly recommends reading the book: "The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America", by Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt.

A few snippets from the expose:

"Parents and politicians must stop believing the propaganda handed down by the education establishment (the educational labor union) that says teaching a child in the twenty-first century is different and must be more high tech than in days past. It simply isn’t so.

"I agree, wholeheartedly!

"It dates back to the early efforts by psychologists like John Dewey, whose work began to change how teachers were taught to teach in the nation’s teacher colleges..."

"Instead the new system explored methods to maneuver students through psychological behavior modification processes. Rather than to instill knowledge... became more of a method to instill specific agendas into the minds of children.


"William Carr, secretary of the Educational Policies Commission, clearly stated that new agenda when in 1947 he wrote in the "NEA Journal:

"The teaching profession prepares the leaders of the future… The statesmen, the industrialists, the lawyers, the newspapermen…all the leaders of tomorrow are in schools today." Carr went on to write: "The psychological foundations for wider loyalties must be laid…Teach those attitudes which will result ultimately in the creation of a world citizenship and world government… we can and should teach those skills and attitudes which will help to create a society in which world citizenship is possible."

Geesh, this is much too reminscent of Ayn Rand's "Anthem", if you ask me.

Hello Academic2,

You're welcome!

I don't want to make any assumptions about your nation. As such, I will ask your permission to instead inquire about your nation.

Why do you suppose there is the absence of a committed, public 'watch-dog' citizens groups in your country?

Is there a set of underlying reasons why the Ugandan People have not seemed able to hold their leaders accountable?

I'm inspired by the citizens of Zambia, who are ushering in greater levels of accountablity among their elected, than in any time in recent history. Perhaps there is inspiration for the Ugandan People, by way of the route the Zambian People have taken to infuse this great sense of civic mindedness into their fellow citizens.

Geeze, maybe we can all (including my apathetic American brethren) learn a thing or two from the Zambian People, eh?

Although I do not know much about Ugandan Politics, I am aware of a very long history of violent oppression, and much corruption. If I may ask though, do your citizens have the right to own personal firearms, or are they prohibited by law?