Guilty!

Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! (mp3s)

Enron Voicemail (thanks Bob B!)

Comments

[Guest]

That's the way I like to hear my news...at WFMU before the networks and with songs!

[norelpref]

and Taylor Hicks is the new American Idol. Fuck me if things ain't lookin' up....

[Noam Sane]

No Randy Newman?

[Gordon]

Let's not forget Classix Nouveaux's "Guilty" -- which I'll gladly send to the MP3 party, on request.

[UncleHorns]

How are you doing , sir?

I'm incarcerated, Lloyd!

[Trish]

Wow, that voicemail has got me feeling inspired to do an audio report on this.

..that 'bitch' is a quick and easy edit to 'bit'.

[Janey Yonkers]

Great headline on the NY Daily News this morning:
BAD LAY

[MrDork]

6 String Drag-Guilty

[Rory M.]

Don't forget GUILTY by Alice Cooper (Alice Cooper Goes To Hell).

[Robert G. Newell]

THE REAL CRIMINALS

I am, in no way, endorsing or condoning the actions of those executives of Enron recently convicted of fraud. Those individuals are, in my opinion, despicable. The real truth of the matter is, however, if you were to compare them to many of the senators, members of congress, and the special interest groups that own them, the Enron executives wouldn’t even rank in the top fifty.

It makes you wonder how, with an ever expanding market, a standard of living that rivals almost any in the world, and a population as literate as is ours, we still allow our government to rack up such an astronomical national debt. The answer to that is simple; our representative form of government has become less than “representative.”

The only way that our nation will survive the twenty-first century is if we reevaluate the way in which we are represented in our nation’s capital, as well as our state legislatures.

Here is a possible solution that will strike terror into the hearts of “political professionals”: Term Limits.

I think I just heard hearts breaking and breakdowns accelerating all across the political spectrum!

Think about it.

I don’t believe that a single one of the framers of our constitution had in mind the “bastardized” version of the representation we have today. It is time to take our government back from the special interests, most of whom represent only a small minority in our country, and we will never be able to accomplish this as long as “professionals” run our government.

Think about how much money is spent to elect a member of the house of representatives, a senator, even the President of the United States, then compare that to the salary of each. Doesn’t add up, does it?

So, who pays for all of this?

Well, some of it comes from you and me, as donations to our candidates, in the hope that it will ensure their election. This is a miniscule amount, however, compared to the amounts pumped into a campaign by special interest groups. These groups back a candidate by shoving huge amounts of cash, both legal and illegal, into their machine with the understanding that their interests will be looked after.

Why don’t the candidates just take this money; then, upon their election, simply vote their conscience anyway? Simple. If they did, they’d never be reelected and, if you are a politician, how else would you make a living, if you couldn’t get elected? Trust me, a political professional would be like a fish out of water in the private sector.

“So,” you ask. “How do we stop this madness?”

I’d be lying if I said it was easy but it IS simple. We limit the amount of time any individual is allowed to serve as an elected representative and/or we enact sweeping changes to campaign financing and enact legislation that severely penalizes any representative who places the interests of any interest group, over those of the majority of the persons in their constituency, or accepts ANY monies from ANY interest group.

In the area of campaign finance reform, we could establish public monies, along with set amounts allocated to each candidate, which can be used to purchase such advertisements as may be deemed necessary or prudent, to make known to their respective constituents their stand on the issues. Private money would be allowed, but only if it did not exceed a set percentage of the allotted amount and, if it did, it must be: A) Returned to the donor; or B) Shared equally among all legally registered candidates for said position. Severe monetary as well as criminal penalties must be mandated and enforced, in order to insure compliance.

How would term limitations help?

They would ensure that, in the long run, any special interest group would be forced, at regular intervals, to rethink their ideas regarding just how much they could afford to spend on any one representative, knowing that this individual is limited in the amount of time they can stay “bought.”

Critics will argue that the continuity of government would be threatened by the continual turnover in personnel. They will argue that time constraints would lessen the effectiveness in legislative endeavors.

Bull shit.

After having, thus far, given them no time constraints, they have managed to drive the most powerful nation in the world to near bankruptcy.

If the truth were really known, this multi-trillion dollar deficit has been brought about by these selfsame sycophants whose self interests take precedence over any concern for the country they so eloquently praise when in the public eye. Behind closed doors, they will do or say whatever is necessary to ensure they remain or advance in power.

I could go on and on citing examples of the wasteful ways in which these individuals spend our money, but it would be redundant. You know--I know, so, what are WE going to do about it?

It nearly tore the heart from my chest when I saw the number of people of this country who cast their vote on “American Idol”. Compare that to the number who cast ballots in the last national election, it’s frightening.

I think I know why so few votes were cast in the national election, though. Most people feel that their vote means nothing, the “Politicos” will get what they want, anyway, regardless of who we vote for.

Why? It’s a rigged election. Only those candidates who have effectively played the game are allowed to run. It’s simply too expensive for anyone who truly desires to serve to be allowed to run.

Oh yeah! They have us at their mercy, and they know it.

Do you want to be a sucker all of your life?

If not, then write your representative and ask them why they can’t do a damned thing about the deficit. IF you even get a reply, it will be a form letter or a request for campaign funds. God knows they won’t even try to answer the question, because they can’t.

[email protected]