The truth about Putin

Another  day, another e-mail from my dear friend, the scurrilous chain mail  forwarder. Today's is a gem, lauding Vladimir Putin for.... well here's enough to give you the picture:     

Vladimir Putin on Citizenship,

I would suggest that not only our leaders but every citizen of USA should pay attention to this advice. It is a sad day when a Communist Leader makes more sense than our LEADERS here in the U.S.A. but here it is!

 "Putin, addressing the Duma, (Russian Parliament),  gave a speech about the tensions with minorities in Russia:  "In Russia, live like Russians. Any minority, from anywhere, if it wants to live in Russia, to work and eat in Russia, it should speak Russian, and should respect the Russian laws. If they prefer Sharia Law, and live the life of Muslim's then we advise them to go to those places where that's the state law. "Russia does not need Muslim minorities. Minorities need Russia, and we will not grant them special privileges, or try to change our laws to fit their desires, no matter how loud they yell 'discrimination'. We will not tolerate disrespect of our Russian culture. We better learn from the suicides of (US of)  America, England, Holland and France , if we are to survive as a nation. The Muslims are taking over those countries and they will not take over Russia. The Russian customs and traditions are not compatible with the lack of culture or the primitive ways of Sharia Law and Muslims.........."

At which point the original sender of the e-mail adds: "If you keep this to yourself, you are part of the problem!"

        I love the way this ends with "you are part of the problem!"    Really? What/which problem,? No US legislator has ever suggested the things such as instituting Sharia Law or changing a national language, so other than anti-Muslim bigotry​, obviously the writer's problem, what are we talking about here? Oh wait, I get it. We now love Vladimir Putin. Get off the obvious political bandwagon and consider how ludicrous that really is. So we now want an "elected" (in quotes 'cause it ain't so) "President for life" who is so deep in the pockets of the Russian oligarchs he has to look up to kiss their balls?  Donald Trump, alone, would "get" this, because that's all he values, himself.

        Of special interest is the implication that Russia has been more effective combating the insidious effects of sectarian Islamic violence. Of course, maybe Putin's  tough talk have been effective in limiting deaths in Russia due to Islamic terrorism, no?  A quick look shows that in just two incidents, the Moscow Theater attack and the "apartment bombings, Russia lost 430 persons to Islamic terrorist acts.  

        There are some obvious considerations to be made here: First of all, over Putin's reign ("term" is simply too ludicrous to consider for an emperor for life) the rate of Russian deaths per million by terrorist acts has been 1.01 fatalities per million population. In the US during the terms of President Barack Obama (the unmentioned but implied "slammee" of this piece of whatever it is) the US death rate from terrorist acts has been .012  fatalities per million, which is 1/84 th of that in Russia. Now tell me again how Putin's tough talk and bare-chested swagger have kept Russians safer? No?  Didn't think so. Of course the US did have the one great act of terrorism on 9/11, but at the time there had been none of the issues Putin speaks of related to  circumstances in the US. Of course, the President did have a warning, but, as it was prepared by the Clinton administration, it was essentially ignored due to a multitude of screw-up's involving CIA, FBI and Bush White House refusal to take it seriously, all also established facts and on the public record. 

        What this diatribe also conveniently omits is the fact than much of what Russia faces is due to their insistence that Chechnya, historically Muslim, must now be Russia, and Russian in essence. Many (by no means all!)of the "Russian" deaths attributed to terrorism either happened in Chechnya or were perpetrated by Chechens. These actions aren't due to  Chechens trying to force their religion down the throats of Russians, but rather the opposite; historical Muslims trying to hold on to their religion in their own land. 

       From the 13th century, Chechens have been primarily a Muslim people of various sects,  although the Russian incursions beginning in the 16th century spurred massive conversions to Sunni Islam, as Sunnis were seen as the resistance to Russia. If this sounds distressingly familiar, it should, as the US 2001-2007 destabilization of Iraq also offered the proposition that only the Sunnis (now united as ISIS) were the true resistance to western incursions.    

        Putin is a thug. He is Stalin without even the thin veneer of political principle.  Period. Discounting 9/11,  His policies have been responsible for massively larger amounts of terrorism in Russia that we have seen in the US.

      In fact, Timothy McVeigh, homegrown fine young Christian that he was, killed more Americans in one day that the entire Obama administration death toll from terrorism.

Musings for a Saturday

Musings for a Saturday

      Are all weather persons required to have cutesy pooh names or just a lucky few? Storm Field (WABC) , Ray Ban (Weather Channel), Dallas Raines (KABC),  two Porn star names, Rick Dickert and Topper Shutt , plus local fave Rusty McRainey are but a few examples. Every time I hear Rusty's name, I keep waiting for the rest of the set - Sunny Daze, Tommy Tornado and  Iggy Isobar.

      What exactly do these things have in common?  Intestines, manic approbation and  work vehicles? Beats the shit out of me, but apparently there is a cult of Neo Deo-mechanists who worship them in one personage - a  pickup truck manufactured by the Chrysler corporation. Sam Elliott is apparently their chief priest, because we periodically hear him call the faithful with the reverently intoned "Guts, Glory, Ram."  Must be time to slaughter another sheep (before it gets recalled, like most of the others.)  

      At what point is it "OK" to stop referring to a heinous deed as "alleged" and just say , "OK, he did it!?" I have watched  reports of a deputy kneeing a handcuffed prisoner in the chest, seen the victim fall to the floor in agony, and seen him a year later showing the scar where his ruptured spleen was removed.  His police officer assailant  has been fired and is under indictment, yet the news stories regarding this incident, show the video of the holding cell and the assault, followed by describing it as the  "alleged" kneeing by the officer. I have seen football decisions overturned with less convincing video than this! Alleged my ass! He did it, we've all seen it. The only remaining issue here is how long will he spend in jail, (hopefully in general population!) and how much will the civil rights lawsuit cost the taxpayers of Orlando.

      And finally (for today): Remember when  TV commercials used to delicately dance around the more basic bodily functions?  We knew what they meant, but there was some sense of  decorum and restraint when advertising certain products.  I don't mean when Lucy was pregnant and CBS refused to allow the word "pregnant" to be uttered on the show. After all, how could she have become pregnant anyway? They were never in the same bed for all the years the show aired! I'm referring to things like menstruation, elimination, menopause, and the like.

Specifically, of late, we have seen new, cleverly named laxative/intestinal related  products like "Mira-lax", "Xifan" "Movantix." and others.  Get it? - "Mov" as in "go potty" or "do #2"). What I find in marginally bad taste is not the commercials addressing a problem which obviously affects millions, or the drug names, however cutesy-pooh they may be. It's the graphics accompanying the description of the drugs' function. One such actually shows a pink knotted bundle of animated intestines  walking around, which is bad enough, but a recent animated example actually shows a pink tube with a purple (no other way to say this at this point) "turd shaped" obstruction.  Not to worry, though, because one little dose of (whichever) wonder drug has that little guy gently moving onward and downward to the porcelain depot at the end of the line. 

Really? Please.  

999

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whats-largest-number-you-can-represent-3-digits-nope-its-ed-trice?trk=eml-b2_content_ecosystem_digest-recommended_articles-49-null&midToken=AQFqBmC1jqjJ0g&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=0GDVXu5u6-17c1

        The above referenced article link was e-mailed to me by a friend who, I think, sees it as a denunciation of "Common Core."  A more careful reading, however, shows that even the parent who wrote this doesn't get the real basis behind either education or Common Core. It also reveals that this is a work of poor fiction, like that of most of the far rightist, rewrite history, quash critical thinking loonies.  Here's enough of a snippet to give the gist of the article:

 "This post is about my fight against "Standardized Testing" in math, and what later became "Common Core." It goes back to 2008 when my daughter was in grade school. I got a call to come to the principal's office. "Your daughter was being disruptive in class."....It was like an arrow through my heart. I looked over at her. There were tear-streaked marks all down her face. She looked down at her shoes when I shot a glance over at her. And she started sobbing again. The principal continued his monotone diatribe, while I walked over to kneel besides my daughter and hug her. "Really, Mr. Trice, that's not appropriate..." I continued to ignore him. "Are you OK?" I asked her. She looked up, nodded her head, and sniffled.  "Your daughter tried to correct her math teacher. The teacher explained why she was wrong, and she insisted that she was correct."

"What was the question?" I asked. The teacher was also present, and he spoke up. "The question was, what was the largest number that can be represented with 3 digits. I said it was 999, your daughter disagreed."

I remember thinking "Uh-oh. What the heck was she thinking?"

That's when she spoke up, anger in her voice, "Oh yeah? Tell me what 9 raised to the 9th power raised to the 9th power is then??"

        Reading the rest of the article reveals a very carefully constructed fictional account  of what is almost assuredly a non-existent event. read the responses below the article itself; they are spot on. As for the attitude reflected by the writer, see my comments below:  

       This isn't even about standardized testing or common core. If true (it isn't) , it would  simply about an asshole teacher who placed the need to be infallible over the need to teach critical and innovative thinking and an even more gaping asshole administrator who abetted them. Of course, the real irony here, is that philosophically, the teacher and principal in the article, as portrayed, are  actually far more  representative of  those who oppose common core, that is, unimaginative trolls who would bend facts to fit their pre conception, admitting no alternative  response, no matter how well reasoned. 

     The child's thought process in analyzing the question (again, if true)  is the very essence of critical thinking, a goal of Common Core, opposed by some, especially Evangelicals who fear their children may actually learn to reason.  If this were a standardized test, there would be no discussion of the question in class anyway.  The final proof of this being bovine excreta is the allegation that all this was "remedied" including changing standardized test scores nationwide, in three months, or that the child's grade couldn't have simply been corrected at the school or district level. Test scores come back to the school and are entered locally by admin staff. Any principal, even the supposed moron cited in this fairy tale, could have simply had the transcript changed. The real relevance to the child's future would never hinge on one question on a grade school test, and most teachers and any  administrator I ever worked with or for would have  smoothed this over immediately.  
     
       Finally, this blog entry was written in early 2016, and the writer asserts his daughter is now a sophomore in College. Regressing the years would have had this math genius as a 7th grade student, at the very least, at  the time of the alleged incident. The supposed question is far, below the 7th grade level, and almost assuredly would not be on any standardized test at that grade level.         

      I am always amused and sometimes saddened as well, when educators are attacked as a group by parents  whose agenda is to expiate their own demons. 

The wrath of Gawd-uh!

       There are many persons of the Christian faith who do unselfish, morally upright, and unconditionally good things on a daily basis. It should be noted that there are  many Buddhists, Jains, Atheists, Jews, Muslims and Wiccans  who do so as well.  There are, in each group, also many who mouth the platitudes, go through the motions and wear their religion on their sleeve. These are easily identified by their insistence on public prayer at the drop of a hat, even though in the case of Christians, their Nordic leader, Sven Christ (see any picture) spoke specifically against it! Somewhere in the cesspit below the second basement of organized Pseudo- Christianity  is the region of hypocrisy reserved for the Cruzes, Pat Robertsons  and Michelle Bachmanns.

       Ted Cruz, according to his father, a megalomaniacal evangelical preacher, is "The anointed one" apparently sitting beside God  himself in some celestial green room, waiting to ascend to the throne of the ....oh wait, this isn't a theocracy, Ted, piss off.

       Meanwhile Pat Robertson, afflicted with terminal bat shit crazy, continues vomiting forth such edicts as: "The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."

        More recently, Michele Bachmann, well known  Minnesota moron and former Congressional cloakroom joke, has taken it upon herself to interpret the recent terror attacks in Belgium, as only she can, as God's revenge on the USA,  apparently for daring to elect a non-white and not raving loony super Christian as President. She chides President Obama for being in Cuba in the first place and the seems to think that he should have rushed home. And done what, exactly;  suit up, put on body armor, fly to Brussels and kick some ISIS ass? The fact that this woman actually graduated William and Mary law school must be a source of great pride for many of the faculty there.  A an aside, the Minnesota state bird is the common loon.  Coincidence? I think not!

        She is so obsessed with the fictional "end times" of Biblical fame, that if anyone refuses to kowtow to Israel she sees it as heresy.  She has said, “The Jewish state of Israel truly is a miracle of the hand of God. This is a fulfillment of God’s word.”  “We recognize the shortness of the hour and that’s why we as a remnant want to be faithful in these days and do what it is that the Holy Spirit is speaking to each one of us, to be faithful in the kingdom and to help bring in as many as we can — even among the Jews — share Jesus Christ with everyone that we possibly can because, again, he’s coming soon.”

        So watch out Jews, you better convert, Michele says so. Arrant ego driven horseshit of this caliber has seldom been seen, but then Bachmann's vengeance seeking God has actually never been seen. We have, however,  witnessed  the vicious revenge centric mentality of his adherents, haven't we? I mean what the hell, worship one golden calf and 3,000 must die? (Exodus 32:26-28) On the other hand, remember all those brutal hordes of militant atheists who have ravished the world in support of their disbelief? Me neither. Ever. At all. Not even once.

        The most troubling aspect of all this is that both Bachmann and Robertson, and to a degree Cruz, see their God and their religion  as their own personal weapons to smite those whose socio/political beliefs are at odds with their own narrow minded and dogmatic beliefs. Not only that, but he uses surrogates to make his point. Obama   goes to Cuba; uh-oh, God  kills Belgians! By this logic, if I have a legitimate problem with my neighbor, I could just go to another neighbor and kill his dog (or wife, or children or all his line unto 40 generations, or whatever bovine excreta we're selling at the moment. You can't make this shit up........oh wait, yes you certainly can. 

Wrong is Wrong, whatever the reason!

       This infuriates me! The law by which this child is being taken from her foster parents of four years was meant to prevent the barbaric and too common practice, which existed some decades ago, of taking American Indian children from their homes simply as a source of adoptive and adoptable children for childless white couples. The assumption, and rationale, racist and misguided beyond belief, was that the child would be better off for having been "raised white." 

     This case bears little or no resemblance to that grossly misguided intent. This child was taken from her addict and felon mother at the age of two and the only stable family she has ever known has been the Page family, who, for two years have been trying to adopt her. Both parents have long since given up custodial rights and all parental rights, so who's taking Lexi?

                        Lexi with foster father and would be adopter Rusty Page and his wife (green shirt)

       The Choctaw Indian nation, citing a 1978 law which was aimed at protecting Indian children from having their heritage and stability ripped from them by cross culture adoption, has decided that because Lexi's biological father (who gave her away, remember?) is 1/64 Choctaw, Lexi is Indian. Although the only stable life and culture she has ever known has been provided by the Pages, who love her, the Choctaw Nation ABC News in an earlier statement that they want what is "the best for this Choctaw child." "The tribe's values of faith, family and culture are what makes our tribal identity so important to us," the statement added. "Therefore we will continue to work to maintain these values and work toward the long-term best interest of this child."

      At this point allow me to interject that this point of view was exactly the reason cited by Indian activists in opposing sending Indian children East to "Indian schools" like that at Carlisle PA, where they were forced to abandon their cultural norms and become "good little white children" , even to the point of being punished for speaking to each other in their native languages. This however, is analogous to what the Choctaw nation is proposing to do in the case of Lexi!  "Lexi doesn't know another home," Rusty Page says. "She finally knows what mom and dad means and they want to take that away from her."

     Wrong is wrong, political correctness notwithstanding, and this is not political correctness anyway, as the law is being misapplied. If being 1/64 of any ethnic group makes you a member of said culture, then I'm Greek, because a distant relative 20 generations back left Greece and migrated to Germany around 500 years ago. All the intervening German, Scottish, English, etc infusion means nothing, at least it wouldn't to the Choctaw Nation, who in fact are also transplants, having been uprooted by Andrew Jackson's unconstitutional Indian Removal Act and relocated from Mississippi and Tennessee (both Indian words!) to Oklahoma. 

     One might think that having been forcibly removed from their cultural roots in 1830 would have inculcated a sense of understanding of the hardships represented by such actions, but apparently that isn't the case. Shame on the Choctaw nation and shame on the state of California for ignoring what is best for this child.

Blackfish? Bullshit!

This in response to several posts regarding the cessation of Orca breeding at Sea World, citing "Blackfish" as if it were actually a documentary. 

Calling Blackfish a "Documentary" is almost like calling "Avatar" by the same name. If this were truly a valid documentary, one has to wonder why the Academy completely ignored it as such the year it was eligible!  First and foremost, what the movie makers did was to draw a conclusion and back fit the movie to support it, you know, like Creationists? The commentary within the movie was primarily from (and again no mention of this) disgruntled (as in terminated and pissed) employees. I don't want an argument here, because the varying opinions are never going to coincide, but our daughter,  has been at Sea World for 30 years, and knew Dawn Brancheau (the dead trainer) well. I coached the Sea World Ladies softball team some years ago. A number of my players worked with Orcas, so I put great value on their opinions vice a fired and angry ex-employee. To a person, they felt that the Orcas enjoyed the social interaction with humans and, more importantly having been born in captivity could really only exist in and were content that setting. They all believed they had the best job in the world. My response to those who would say they (Orcas) are not happy (never having worked with them) would be to ask "How do you know?" 

RE: the death of Dawn Brancheau, If there was a mistake made it was that Sea World allowed Tilikum, a wild caught, and in his early years of captivity, abused, Orca to be in the tank with people. He had already demonstrated that he was quite different from the captive borns prior to being bought by Seaworld, but as he was a fertile guy, they brought him to the Orlando park where he has sired a number of calfs, two of whose births it has been my privilege to witness firsthand. He was simply not as stable all the time as he was most of the time. 

      Tilikum is very ill now, and, at 35 is at what is usually the end of life span for a wild Orca, which refutes one of the many falsehoods/half truths in Blackfish. He was caught off Iceland and kept in a tiny tank, followed by finally being transferred to the rundown Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia, Canada, and forced to call his barren 100-foot-by-50-foot pool—just 35 feet deep—his new “home.”

     Food was withheld from him as a training technique, and he regularly endured painful attacks by two dominant female orcas, Haida and Nootka. He was forced to perform every hour on the hour, eight times a day, seven days a week. The constant stress and exhaustion gave him stomach ulcers. When the park closed its doors at the end of each day, the three incompatible orcas were crammed into a tiny round metal-sided module for more than 14 hours until the park reopened the next morning.

           This treatment is completely at odds with Sea World practices. I can't help wonder why the people who are so concerned about an intelligent sea animal are not more concerned about captive Gorillas and Orangs or even Beluga whales and dolphins. maybe one of them should kill a trainer? Factually, Tilikum's story is akin to that of an abused child who grows up to be a social misfit and violent offender. perhaps the real tragedy is in not treating him as such, but rather counting too much on the rehabilitative power of affection across the human/ Orca boundary. There simply was not and never has been "abuse" of Orcas at Sea world except in the minds of those who would define it as their agenda dictates.

Not even wrong!

Physicist Wolfgang Pauli once evaluated the theories of a student as "not even wrong" meaning they were so far off course as to be unrelated. A recent letter entitled "Voters should ask hard questions" falls within that descriptor as well.

       One example is the assertion that "allegations," (by which one assumes he means the interminable obsession with Benghazi)  surrounding Hillary Clinton, are unresolved.  If over $20 million, 682 days, 7 investigations and 32 hearings  all controlled by the opposition party in both houses of Congress doesn't constitute thorough, then what does? To date political enemies of  former SecState Clinton have spent  longer attempting (and failing) to smear her performance and her character  than they did in investigating Pearl Harbor, the JFK assassination, Hurricane  Katrina, , and the Iran-Contra Scandal. In those last two under Republican Presidents' watches, investigators found a lot wrong. 

        Next is the statement  that Bernie Sanders' agenda is " a continual slide toward secularism and the rule of man.....(etc)."   In another "not even wrong" moment, the writer is seemingly oblivious to the fact that the founders went to great lengths to insure  that they created  a secular government. They would be gratified to know that we remain so today, in spite of occasional fits and starts of regression toward theocracy in the minds of some. I'd wager, however,  that the writer stridently supports the death penalty, in spite of its obvious conflict with the sixth Commandment!

        Finally the writer  lauds free market (free trade) as "motivating self reliance, productivity and economic  superiority." All this we watch  real income of American workers remain stagnant while jobs are shipped off shore and a significant portion of our debt is held by foreign interests. Of course, foreign  products are cheap at Walmart, America's largest retailer, who used to proudly advertise "Made  in America."  Mr. Sam Walton would hang his head.

You Can't fix Stupid!

       Let's play a guessing game. Who are Caitlyn Coleman, Joshua Boyle, Jean and Scott Adam, and Otto Warmbier, and what common factor links them?  If you said they're all Americans, you're close; Boyle is Canadian. If you guessed that they're all dead, that's incorrect, The Adams are, Boyle and Coleman might be, but Warmbier is still alive. If, however you said they all are (or were) terminally naive and stupid, you win the prize.

        All these intrepid travelers  went near or into  places where   indigenous folks are overtly hostile to the United States and ran afoul of circumstances into which they intentionally placed themselves. At this juncture, allow me to say that they were not government contractors, aid workers, medecins sans frontieres, or involved with any organization which would have, rightfully or not, sent them there.

        Coleman and Boyle were honeymooning (she very pregnant) in the mountainous region of Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban, against the advice, wishes, and pleadings of their respective parents. The couple decided to set off in the summer of 2012, going from Russia through several Central Asian countries and then into Afghanistan. Coleman was pregnant. That was about four  years ago. They and, presumably, their three year old child,  are still captives as of the most recent video released by their captors.  

        Jean and Scott Adam were killed by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Two passengers on board their yacht were also killed. The Adams were distributing Bibles around the world, seemingly whether people wanted them or not.  They were in some of the most dangerous waters in the world, and apparently, although Mr. Adams had worked in the film industry, had not seen, "Captain Phillips."     

        Otto Warmbier, 20 year old UVA student,  seen  Thursday  evening on the nightly news bawling his eyes out in a courtroom, was convicted and sentenced to 15 years at hard labor for removing a poster from a hotel wall - IN NORTH  KOREA!!  This is a rogue nation which has hacked US government computer systems, threatened a US movie studio and tested IRBms and nuclear weapons. You know, all those militaristic things the Far Rightists have said Iran will do, but never has? I am at a loss as to why any respectable American tour company would patronize this country, given the horrid state of relations existing between the  US and N. Korea, and the insanity evidenced at every opportunity by their lunatic leader.

        Ron White must have had the fate of these imbeciles in mind, when he coined those gospel like words, "you can't fix stupid!"   

Biology 101 gone amok

        Ok. So, I'm watching Good morning America. On a positive note, Ginger Zee, my favorite weather person other than Sam Champion, is back, brightening my Monday! Then they cut to a segment which ultimately cause me to turn the TV off.

       Those Rembrandts of reproduction, those poster children for home schooled delusion, those poseurs of piety, the Duggars, are baaack!  Apparently their network who I shan't dignify by identification, decided that sufficient  smoke had cleared that they could once again subject America to this inbred  Arkansas menagerie. They were quick to point out that Josh Duggar, or as the nieces and nephews refer to him -"Uncle feely hands", won't be on camera, but his long suffering, serially cuckolded wife will.

        What troubles me about this whole circus is that, as a family, they harp ad nauseum about their piety and strong "Christian morality" but have apparently sold their collective souls to the devil that is reality TV. They will rejoin the ranks of such other artistic icons as Duck Dynasty, Hillbilly Handfishin', 16 and Pregnant and Keeping up with the Kardashians, as if we needed another example of  selling out family for money. 

      It was bad enough that Daddy Duggar, who is the poster child for "Anyone Can Breed", and has failed at essentially every legitimate enterprise has attempted has fed his family by allowing them to become a televised freak show of platitudes, home schooled cornpone ignorance and religious posturing.  His poor wife, meanwhile,  has become the subject of a new Mother Goose rhyme , "There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, she had so many children her uterus fell out."

        The older girls have said they just want to resume the show to "show America the power of forgiveness and healing."  What they neglected to add is that they have no other skills for which anyone will pay and TV is easy money, no artistic talent required. Remember that commandment about false witness? hey, Duggars, that means lying! 

Open letter to Rubio and Cruz

Dear Senators Rubio and Cruz,

        I acknowledge with a modicum of  appreciation your recent comments regarding the appalling and grossly inappropriate comments of your fellow candidate wannabee, Donald Trump. If, however,  yourselves had been as concerned about civility during the past years, it might be easier to stomach your newly found sense of decorum. Senator Rubio, today you whined,  "... every society must be governed by rules of discourse. Once you lose the rules of discourse, you lose the discourse.”  Where was all this concern for respect and decorum when you, Cruz and all the Tea Partiers were leading cheers while some of the more Neanderthal of your constituents were subjecting  Mr. Obama to some of the most despicable public barbs ever thrown at a seated President?

        Where  were the pleas for civility then? When people, including Mr. Trump were broadcasting blatant lies regarding his religion, his birth and his character,  for the last 7 years, where was your indignation?  When did you ever chide Fox News, Rush Limbaugh or the scores of other persons and outlets who performed semi-daily character assassinations?  

     A keystone of your attacks has been to accuse the President of trying to "change America."  And? Apparently  you and your cohort believe we are perfect and nothing could be better. Your sense of oblivion is reminiscent of Dr. Pangloss in  "Candide."  If you've never read Voltaire's masterpiece, let me bring you up to speed: Dr. Pangloss,  Candide's  mentor, begins as a professor of "métaphysico-théologo-cosmolonigologie"  and self-proclaimed optimist, who repeatedly avers that things are as good as can be expected and will always work out for the best. Like the Tea Party adherents, he seems to believe that the situation, as is, constitutes the best of all possible worlds for everyone. The good doctor gets  enough reality therapy during the course of Candide's  adventures to realize the folly of his position.

        Tea Party's resistance to change and violent opposition to it has much the same origins. Change threatens the status quo, primary among which in America have been such concepts as institutionalized  white, straight, male, Christian dominance of a society which, to an increasing degree is moving away from those stereotypes. That change is simply that, change. It, in truth, threatens absolutely no one, but it threatens the very fabric of society in the hate rhetoric  stoked psyches  of the Bubbas and Bubbettes of the Tea party.

        Loss of power is scary to some, to others it is anger inducing. The tragedy that is the Tea Party reflects yet another aspect of this anger, that being that for the lower middle and lower class whites which flock to it, it purports to hold out the hope that they might retain the one thing which consoles them in otherwise mundane lives - the fact that as long as they can feel superior to others  based on the traditional bases of racial, gender and ethnic dominance, they are still not on the bottom rung of the social ladder.

        Tea Party leaders, fully aware of this  well of bigotry driven anger, play their retrograde constituencies  like a Stradivarius.  Probably the only thing Tea Party leaders have in common with the rank and file is religious zealotry,  but it is the hook on which they reel in their supporters. Fueling the flames of lower middle class white America by appeals to their Xenophobia, racial hatred and homophobia has been the official  sport of the Far Right  since the Reagan years. 

      So please, Cruz, Rubio et. al., look in the mirror. What you see at the Trump rallies has been instilled in all your supporters by all of you and your talking heads for years and you share that blame.            

Marco, we hardly knew ye!

                           Marco, we hardly knew ye!

       If you live outside the state of Florida and see the "paid for by....." political promos running currently, you might almost be fooled into believing that Marco Rubio is simply the clean cut kid he so desperately wants to be seen to be. Warning! As in "Jaws", the movie, what is most troubling about "Rubio" the Presidential wannabee is below the surface.  

        Let's begin with activities which, while legal, cast doubts on his fiscal responsibility.   In late 2004, he decided to move from the $175,000 house he had purchased in 2003 to one twice the size he was having built a few blocks away for $550,000.  Rubio wrote in his  autobio, "An American Son"  that he needed the space for his growing family—two children already and another on the way. Yet even though the house was built to his specifications, Rubio in 2005 quickly secured a $135,000 home-equity loan on it. Also that year, Rubio and his close friend and political ally David Rivera bought a $135,000 house together in Tallahassee to use when the legislature was in session.

        For the record, Rivera, who Rubio can't seem to put far enough behind him is currently under federal investigation for bribery in connection with campaign finance shenanigans.  He is also under investigation for failing to report income from a consulting firm connected to his family for work related to a pro- legalized gambling  campaign. In April 2012, state investigators concluded that Rep. Rivera had used campaign funds to pay personal expenses and reward companies connected to his friends and family, among other violations. In August 2012, reports showed  that Rep. Rivera had supported a candidate in the four-way Democratic primary for his House seat, allegedly providing envelopes stuffed with cash.  Rivera has been named as one of the 2011 "most corrupt" representatives in Congress, by CREW which is non-partisan (their list is about 50-50 between parties). This, then, is the company that Rubio has chosen to keep!

        When the state’s real estate market eventually tanked, Rubio's  net worth did as well, falling from over $300 thousand in 2005 to just over $8000 in 2008!  In 2010, as Rubio started running for Senate, his Tallahassee home was almost foreclosed upon because he and Rivera went five months without making a payment; Rivera, coughing up the past due balance at the last minute to stop the bank’s foreclosure.

        Why is this take on Rubio’s misfortunes potentially political dynamite ? It’s simple: There is a strong conviction among conservative Republicans that the entire financial crisis that devastated the U.S. economy in the last decade was essentially the product of minority Americans taking out mortgages they could not afford, (see "The Big Short") egged on by ideologues in the federal government and government-backed lending institutions.  Rubio’s own “story” comes uncomfortably close to that stereotype. And it’s all the more dangerous because, unlike the bankruptcies undertaken by Donald Trump’s companies, the choices Rubio made are quite familiar to the middle class. Cashing out a 401k ( which Rubio also did) to pay the bills is truly a middle-class nightmare, something to be avoided at any cost, and arguably an immoral act that could impose future obligations on one’s children. The whole profile sits uncomfortably with a picture desired by the  conservative Senator who routinely attacks government overspending and debt, and deplores the current condition of retirement programs.

        A more legally troubling issue for Rubio supporters  should  be his frequent and egregious misuse of a credit card issued by the Republican party of Florida for party related use.

As a U.S. Senate candidate, Marco Rubio charged grocery bills, repairs to the family minivan and purchases from a wine store less than a mile from his West Miami home to the Republican Party of Florida while he was speaker of the Florida House, according to records obtained by the St. Petersburg  Times and Miami Herald.

Rubio said Wednesday that he paid for all personal expenses billed to an American Express card given to him by the party to use from 2005 to 2008, when he left public office. The rest of the charges, he said, were legitimate party expenses.

Those expenses include a $1,000 charge at Braman Honda in Miami for repairs to the family car in January 2008. The party also paid $2,976 for him to rent a car in Miami for five weeks. Rubio said the party allowed him to put personal expenses on the card (why?) and the party reviewed his bill monthly.  Rubio said in a written statement, "There was no formal process provided by the party regarding personal charges."(why?)

      Party spokeswoman Katie Gordon, however begged to differ when confronted with Rubio's activities, saying the card was not supposed to be used for personal expenses. "The RPOF American Express card is a corporate card and is meant to be used only for business expenses," she said when asked about the party's policy. Note: this is his own partisan specifying his use as inappropriate. IRS rules for political parties, which are tax-exempt (why?), require that their donations go exclusively toward influencing elections.

Records show Rubio sent payments to American Express totaling $13,900 for his personal expenses during his tenure as House speaker. But those payments were not made monthly. He made no contributions to the bill during one six-month stretch in 2007, the records show.

Charges covered by the party as political expenses include:

• $765 at Apple's online store for "computer supplies."

• $25.76 from Everglades Lumber for "supplies."

• $53.49 at Winn-Dixie in Miami for "food."

• $68.33 at Happy Wine in Miami for "beverages'' and "meal."

• $78.10 for two purchases at Farm Stores groceries in suburban Miami.

• $412 at All Fusion Electronics, a music equipment store in Miami, for "supplies."

        Rubio's campaign could not find records to explain these expenses, but Rubio stressed that GOP staffers also may be responsible for some expenses, since they also had access to the credit card.(Why?)  Though Rubio claims he tried to pay all his personal expenses, at least some ended up on the party ledger, records show. Three payments to a Tallahassee property management group, which Rubio described as personal, were paid by the party, totaling $1,024, state and credit-card records show. Rubio also booked six plane tickets for his wife using his GOP credit card. It was unclear how many, if any, of those trips his wife actually took; in some instances, she did not fly and Rubio was credited by the airline

Rubio was among at least a half-dozen high-ranking Florida lawmakers given GOP credit cards in recent years, allowing them to spend donations to the party outside public view. Revelations that former chairman Jim Greer and executive director Delmar Johnson charged chartered planes and lavish meals to their cards sparked a grass roots rebellion and the election of new leadership.

Rubio and Greer worked closely together while Rubio was Florida house speaker. Greer and his wife, Lisa, owe $1.5 million to more than 60 creditors. Greer served  15 1/2 months  in prison after pleading guilty in 2013 to four counts of theft and one count of money laundering related to his role as chairman of the Florida GOP from 2007 to 2010. He was accused of stealing $125,000 from the state party. His sins are akin, to albeit worse, than Rubio's. In 2008 alone, the GOP paid $1.8 million in American Express charges, state records show. More than $100,000 was spent on Rubio's card from November 2006 to November 2008.

Rubio flew to New Hampshire in 2008 to campaign for Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and went to the party's national convention that year in Minneapolis.

Rubio also billed the GOP for expenses in Tallahassee during the legislative sessions in 2007 and 2008. The bills include nearly $4,100 in restaurant tabs during the 2007 and 2008 sessions — from a $409 bill at a Macaroni Grill to a $7.09 charge at a Chick-fil-A.

When Rubio became speaker, he spent about $400,000 in tax dollars to remodel offices and build a members-only dining room so lawmakers rushing to meetings or in the throes of negotiations would not have to leave the Capitol to eat.

In his statement, Rubio said he "erred on the side of caution'' to save taxpayer dollars by charging these items to the party, however, election law experts say party credit cards should cover only expenses aimed at influencing elections — fundraising, voter registration and candidate recruitment — to adhere to IRS rules for tax-exempt organizations.

      Rubio taught in various capacities at Florida International   university from 2008 through April of last year, coming on-board just as he was term-limited out of his position as speaker of the Florida House.

        In view of Rubio's well documented   financial difficulties and perhaps to help alleviate them, He was given the sinecure of a "Visiting Distinguished Service Professor" at the Metropolitan Center at Florida International University He worked less than 10 hours a week and missed three-in-10 classes during his first semester of teaching - all while making more than most part-time visiting professors.  For that, he would earn $69,000 — a salary that was considerably more than the $52,000 another part-time visiting professor at the center was making. According to his office, from August of 2008 - November of 2009, Rubio raised approximately $125,000 for the Center — enough to cover his salary and then some. A sizeable chunk of that, $100,000, came from Norman Braman — the wealthy auto magnate who's been a longtime benefactor to Rubio, is helping to bankroll his campaign and whose charitable foundation employs Rubio's wife.

So, let's review: Bad financial manager, abuser and illegal user  of  credit cards issued by own party, extravagant spender in Tallahassee with taxpayer dollars, whole feigning fiscal conservatism. Leaves Florida House, "given"  high pay, low work, teaching job, paid more than real professors, but gains "contributions" to the school from political ally who also employs Rubio's wife. Smell it yet?

 On the National scene, forget election year absences. As a US Senator in 20011 and 2012 , Rubio still missed 28.6 % of votes (2012) and 24.5% (2011). So why elect a guy who can't manage his own money, illegally manages others' money,  and can't be bothered to show up for work one fourth of the time? 

Saying it won't make it so!

A dear , conservative friend sends me this sort of thing frequently, and I usually let it go, but this is so egregiously off the wall I had to do the work, and respond: It should be noted that both I and my friend are military retirees, so the several referencs to "we" "I." "You" and "Us" are in that context.

Here's the original letter with the forward exactly as it was sent to my friend:

This is right on, the truth!!!

 http://freedomoutpost.com/a-dying-military-veterans-bill-schoonover-letter-that-blasts-congressional-representatives/

  

This is a letter from a Democrat to his two Democrat Senators.  My belief is that it applies to virtually all Senators of both parties and probably the House also.  Caution this is political but also bipartisan.

 This is really a great letter.  I am most impressed by the fact the gentleman that wrote it signed his name and address to it.   Snopes.Com confirmed this letter to be true.

 This came from a democrat much to my surprise! I read it and it certainly hits the nail where it would hurt. Google has the letter posted on their web site.This is well written.......and should be read by everyone in these United States!  It will be well worth the three minutes it requires to read this. It is quite impressive. You can be Republican, Democrat, Liberal, Conservative, Independent or Libertarian and I bet this will hit a nerve. Our country is in real trouble. This gentleman is obviously quite smarter (sic) than the two senators he sent it to. All I can say is amen to everything he said. A very articulate letter sent to the two U.S. Senators from Washington State.

Senator Patty Murray

Senator Maria Cantwell

Washington, DC , 20510

Dear Senators:

I have tried to live by the rules my entire life. My father was a Command Sergeant Major, U.S. Army, who died of combat related stresses shortly after his retirement. It was he who instilled in me those virtues he felt important - honesty, duty, patriotism and obeying the laws of God and of our various governments. I have served my country, paid my taxes, worked hard, volunteered and donated my fair share of money, time and artifacts.

 Today, as I approach my 79th birthday, I am heart-broken when I look at my country and my government. I shall only point out a very few things abysmally wrong which you can multiply by a thousand fold.

 I  have calculated that all the money I have paid in income taxes my entire life cannot even keep the Senate barbershop open for one year! Only Heaven and a few tight-lipped actuarial types know what the Senate dining room costs the taxpayers. So please, enjoy your haircuts and meals on us.

 Last year, the president spent an estimated $1.4 billion on himself and his family. The vice president spends $ millions on hotels. They have had 8 vacations so far this year! And our House of Representatives and Senate have become America's answer to the Saudi royal family. You have become the "perfumed princes and princesses" of our country.

In the middle of the night, you voted in the Affordable Health Care Act, a.k.a. "Obamacare," a bill which no more than a handful of senators or representatives read more than several paragraphs, crammed it down our throats, and then promptly exempted yourselves from it substituting your own taxpayer-subsidized golden health care insurance.

You live exceedingly well, eat and drink as well as the "one percenters," consistently vote yourselves perks and pay raises while making 3.5 times the average U.S. individual income, and give up nothing while you (as well as the president and veep) ask us to sacrifice due to sequestration (for which, of course, you plan to blame the Republicans, anyway).

You understand very well the only two rules you need to know - (1) How to get elected, and (2) How to get re-elected. And you do this with the aid of an eagerly willing and partisan press, speeches permeated with a certain economy of truth, and by buying the votes of the greedy, the ill-informed and under-educated citizens (and non-citizens, too, many of whom do vote) who are looking for a handout rather than a job. Your so-called "safety net" has become a hammock for the lazy. And, what is it now, about 49 or 50 million on food stamps - pretty much all Democrat voters - and the program is absolutely rife with fraud and absolutely no congressional oversight?

I would offer that you are not entirely to blame. What changed you is the seductive environment of power in which you have immersed yourselves. It is the nature of both houses of Congress which requires you to subordinate your virtue in order to get anything done until you have achieved a leadership role. To paraphrase President Reagan, it appears that the second oldest profession (politics), bears a remarkably strong resemblance to the oldest.

As the hirsute (me: Who gives a shit about a 19th centiry baron's hair?) first Baron John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton (1834 - 1902), English historian and moralist, so aptly and accurately stated, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." I'm only guessing that this applies to the female sex as well. Tell me, is there a more corrupt entity in this country than Congress?

While we middle class people continue to struggle, our government becomes less and less transparent, more and more bureaucratic, and ever so much more dictatorial, using Czars and Secretaries to tell us (just to mention a very few) what kind of light bulbs we must purchase, how much soda or hamburgers we can eat, what cars we can drive, gasoline to use, and what health care we must buy. Countless thousands of pages of regulations strangle our businesses costing the consumer more and more every day.

 As I face my final year, or so, with cancer, my president and my government tell me "You'll just have to take a pill," while you, Senator, your colleagues, the president, and other exulted government officials and their families will get the best possible health care on our tax dollars until you are called home by your Creator while also enjoying a retirement beyond my wildest dreams, which of course, you voted for yourselves and we pay for.

 The chances of you reading this letter are practically zero as your staff will not pass it on, but with a little luck, a form letter response might be generated by them with an auto signature applied, hoping we will believe that you, our senator or representative, has heard us and actually cares. This letter will, however, go on line where many others will have the chance to read one person's opinion, rightly or wrongly, about this government, its administration and its senators and representatives. I only hope that occasionally you might quietly thank the taxpayer for all the generous entitlements which you have voted yourselves, for which, by law, we must pay, unless, of course, it just goes on the $19 trillion national debt for which your children and ours, and your grandchildren and ours, ad infinitum, must eventually try to pick up the tab.

My final thoughts are that it must take a person who has either lost his or her soul, or conscience, or both, to seek re-election and continue to destroy the country that I deeply love. You have put it so far in debt that we will never pay it off while your lot improves by the minute, because of your power.

 For you, Senator, will never stand up to the rascals in your House who constantly deceive the American people. And that, my dear Senator, is how power has corrupted you and the entire Congress. The only answer to clean up this cesspool is term limits. This, of course, will kill the goose that lays your golden eggs.  And woe be to him (or her) who would dare to bring it up.

Sincerely,

 Bill Schoonover

1096 Angela Lane

Oak Harbor, WA

So much wrong here that one scarcely knows where to start; but first, allow me to state that I also think Congress is doing a lousy job, in many cases, but not because of the (mis) information contained herein.

Let's take this gentleman's misinformation one paragraph at a time:

" I have calculated that all the money I have paid in income taxes my entire life cannot even keep the Senate barbershop open for one year! Only Heaven and a few tight-lipped actuarial types know what the Senate dining room costs the taxpayers. So please, enjoy your haircuts and meals on us."

In fact costs of both are public record, took me about 15 seconds. Operating cost of the Senate  barber shop is high, but this current group of senators has had zero to do with it, and, in fact, in 2014 began to move toward total privatization of it, so this old fart is just plain wrong! It is open to the public, as well.  It isn't the Senators driving the price up, since they pay $20 per cut,  but the government employee barbers who average about twice what a DC barber elsewhere makes annually, plus retirement and health benefits for the staff. The barbershop has been around in some form or other since the 19th century, and in current form since 1937. Again. blaming his two Senators is ludicrous.  Regarding the restaurant, it ain't free food. Whether it's run efficiently by the management (government employees) or not, Senators pay to eat there as do civilians who care to. A quick look around the capitol area would reveal a pretty long walk if Senators went out to lunch, and again, it has been in existence since the 1800s, so why get pissed at his current senators?

This guy makes it look like we buy free food for Senators and give them free haircuts, neither of which is remotely true, so no he definitely isn't  "quite smarter than the two senators he sent it to"  and by the way "quite smarter" borders on illiterate , sort of like "much gooder" which tells us a lot about the sender of this e-mail.

"Last year, the president spent an estimated $1.4 billion on himself and his family. The vice president spends $ millions on hotels. They have had 8 vacations so far this year! And our House of Representatives and Senate have become America's answer to the Saudi royal family. You have become the "perfumed princes and princesses" of our country."

Bush - 533 vacation days, Obama - 140, again why wasn't this guy irate at "W?"  The $1.4 billion is the entire cost of living and maintaining the Office of the President. The "spent on himself and family (as in vacations )" is over the span of 2009-2015  actually $70 million, still a lot, but less than three of his four predecessors.  It is also 1/20th of what this guy cites. Again. WTF?   He just throws out "millions" for Biden, as if saying it makes it true. The rest is just garbage, compared to the waste fraud and abuse of Congressmen circa 1890, but this historical illiterate couldn't possibly know that because he's ignorant and apparently content to remain so.

"In the middle of the night, you voted in the Affordable Health Care Act, a.k.a. "Obamacare," a bill which no more than a handful of senators or representatives read more than several paragraphs, crammed it down our throats, and then promptly exempted yourselves from it substituting your own taxpayer-subsidized golden health care insurance."

If you truly believe that 17 million previously uninsured or uninsurable Americans, now covered  is a bad thing, then agree with this moron, but know this. Every single member of Congress has exactly the same insurance requirement as anyone else, and they are absolutely bound to the same standards as the rest of us. They don't have any more "taxpayer subsidized" health care than you or I, in fact, ours is better because I don't pay for Tri-care. Congresspersons and their staff may choose to participate in a group plan, like any other large group, but there are no "subsidies" or sweetheart deal rates. This has been debunked years ago, yet this dope repeats it as if he knew something.

You live exceedingly well, eat and drink as well as the "one percenters," consistently vote yourselves perks and pay raises while making 3.5 times the average U.S. individual income, and give up nothing while you (as well as the president and veep) ask us to sacrifice due to sequestration (for which, of course, you plan to blame the Republicans, anyway). You understand very well the only two rules you need to know - (1) How to get elected, and (2) How to get re-elected. And you do this with the aid of an eagerly willing and partisan press, speeches permeated with a certain economy of truth, and by buying the votes of the greedy, the ill-informed and under-educated citizens (and non-citizens, too, many of whom do vote) who are looking for a handout rather than a job. Your so-called "safety net" has become a hammock for the lazy. And, what is it now, about 49 or 50 million on food stamps - pretty much all Democrat voters - and the program is absolutely rife with fraud and absolutely no congressional oversight?

Again, where to start? Eat and drink well? OK, so frigging what?  So do I.  Consistently vote pay raises? For the previous 7 years, Congress has voluntarily frozen their own pay, refusing even COLAs, Had they taken just the COLAS, their pay would be about 11% higher than it is now. It is likely that, in 2017, Congress may actually give themselves a $ 2,800  increase, which weighed against the Consumer Price Index is still retrograde.  So he isn't just wrong, he's way the hell wrong! Of course  a Congressman makes more than the US Average, so what? Compare Congressional salary to a any CEO with comparable responsibility (not to mention million dollar golden parachutes), to see how unreasonable this statement is! Partisan Press? Really. The most partisan so called "news" organization in the Free world is Faux News.  This guy is a lying son of a bitch if he says he's a Democrat, but it makes for fun reading, right?  Buying votes? Can you say Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson? Citizens United?

 "Under educated?"..... "I love the undereducated!" Democrats? Naah, Trump said that.  Without going into statistical analysis on voter fraud, every study shows it to be miniscule. A much easier data set is available for food stamps. For both welfare (for which non citizens are NOT eligible) and for SNAP (food stamps) the significant majority of recipients for each program are Caucasian . Read it again. Still think those are all Obama votes?

"I would offer that you are not entirely to blame. What changed you is the seductive environment of power in which you have immersed yourselves. It is the nature of both houses of Congress which requires you to subordinate your virtue in order to get anything done until you have achieved a leadership role. To paraphrase President Reagan, it appears that the second oldest profession (politics), bears a remarkably strong resemblance to the oldest."

 There's no real statement here and even fewer facts, but quoting Reagan again tells me this isn't a Democrat, but a Tea Partier in Democrat's clothing. Besides Reagan never had an original thought, so credit the speechwriter. Getting tired of typing, so I'll just address phrases instead of the entire pile of dung.  

"......what kind of light bulbs we must purchase, how much soda or hamburgers we can eat, what cars we can drive, gasoline to use, and what health care we must buy. Countless thousands of pages of regulations strangle our businesses costing the consumer more and more every day."

How dare the elected government attempt to care for the environment or conserve energy? (light bulbs) When was the last time anyone told you that you couldn't have a burger or soda, or what to drive? Never happens. No one has ever told you what kind of health care you had to buy either, just that you should have it. Why? So you pick up at least a part of the cost of your own well being. Damn that government!

 "As I face my final year, or so, with cancer, my president and my government tell me "You'll just have to take a pill," while you, Senator, your colleagues, the president, and other exulted  (the appropriate word here is actually exalted, but he's a moron, remember?) government officials and their families will get the best possible health care on our tax dollars until you are called home by your Creator while also enjoying a retirement beyond my wildest dreams, which of course, you voted for yourselves and we pay for."

First: as already discussed, members of Congress, if they use the government employees group plan,   have exactly the same  coverage as a patent office clerk. Like the clerk, they can also BUY a different group plan. In either case, they pay for their and their family's Health care just like everyone else. Wishing it was different so you can hate them won't change that.  As far as the "pill" he mentions, It costs what it costs because the Bush administration in two separate pieces of legislation , one in 2003 and the other in 2006, promised big Pharma that Medicare would never negotiate drug costs (like every other developed country does),  so the Gov pays about 10 times as much on average for the same meds.

Second, in 2006, a new law specified than there would be no FDA approved drugs (this was aimed in general at new cancer treatments), regardless of cost,  which were not available to Medicaid or Medicare patients. So whatever pill he's getting it's the best available.

   Regarding retirement, perhaps he should have worked harder, saved more, been smarter, who knows?  Moreover, if he's the "hero" implied in the intro, why doesn't he go to the VA? (Pssst! it's free!) What I do know is that any medium sized or larger  company  20 year CEO will earn far more for getting fired than a 20 year congressman,  who can receive, at age 55, a $52, 451 pension. (A two term Rep. will get nothing, he must do at least 5 years to be eligible.) That's essentially  comparable  to many professions with lesser responsibilities.

 Consider another 20 year government employee :  A  20 year 0-6 military retiree will be paid (AT AGE 44 or so)  $59, 082 (plus health care for life worth at least another $10 grand annually).  Add the years between 44 and 55 and the retired 0-6 makes  over  $3/4 million before the congressman gets a nickel. Even an E-9 retiring on 26 years earns more than the 20 year congressman when Tri-care is considered! This is a bitter and under informed man.  The fact that he wrote it means nothing except he has access to a word processor. It actually reads more like he simply recorded and transcribed any random Glenn Beck broadcast.