To be a simple federal bureaucrat in these times is sufficient to establish one as a member of the financial elite in the U.S. Munificent salaries, benefits, and retirement packages abound. Congressional retirement packages are second only to being a double Powerball winner.
So, membership in this elite group is something not to be sniffed at. In fact, it's worth getting down and rooting with the hogs to obtain and retain. Which would appear to be the current motivating principle of a great many federal-level politicians eager to have their hands on the august levers of "policy" whereby the affairs of the Nation can be justly ordered.
And the boodle handed out to the right kind of persons.
As for dealing with the deadly serious issues facing the Nation, politicians with job descriptions covering areas more important than parking meter enforcement and condemning citizens' homes for upscale residential developments[1] are falling down on the job.
I [Peggy Noonan] refer of course to this past week's Time magazine cover, which had a picture of Ronald Reagan with a tear drawn in, to illustrate a piece on the current Republican Party. Actually it was a good piece in that it suggested a simple truth: The portion of the Republican Party that is based in and lives off the American capital has lost its way. They used to stand for conservative principles and now they stand for -- well, whatever it is they stand for. . . . [T]he modern Democratic Party has [also] been undone in part by its successes, [it has] achieved what it worked for in terms of Social Security, the safety net and civil rights, and . . . a great coalition has now devolved into a mere conglomeration of interest groups. . . .The last election was enough to make a growed man cry and, in fact, we did weep inconsolably over the utter vacuity of the process. As one person noted somewhere we cannot call to mind, the voters were mobilized but the big question is to what purpose? Some vague unhappiness over something, we recall.
I think many of us would agree both parties seem like exhausted little volcanoes . . . . [2]
At the present moment there might be at least 200 National Guardsmen on the southern boundary of the Nation. Whatever the actual number, we are sure the Border Patrol will be there to protect them with their guns. And the first cinder blocks of the 700-mile Maggotnogo Line will be laid soon.
Soon, we tell you.
As for the historic imperialism of Islam and the creepy, crawly insinuation of Muslim religio-political leaders and their cowed or complicit co-"religionists" into American society intent on engineering a takeover from within, expect no discussion at all. Some new fairy tale or distraction will arise in the forthcoming national electoral circus and serious issues such as these will not make it to the agenda.
Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Tom Tancredo, and Fred Thompson might have some ideas this time around. Let's hope the GOP gives them some prominence. Plus, none of them has dressed up in drag at any social events that we've heard and so just might be electable.
Notes
[1] Which is to say, double-wide trailers or better.
[2] "A Cure for Political Depression." By Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal Online (subscription), 3/24/07.
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