Liar's Poker

It is certainly not news that politicians lie and cheat. The drive for political office surely masks some deep seated personality disorder. I am not a psychoanalyst, I only play one on the internet but my quick diagnosis is narcissistic megalomania with a pinch of sociopathic sadism for flavor. After all most of them started as lawyers.

I received this letter yesterday from Len, one of the Blast's east coast correspondants from Gotham:


Conrad Murray ✔ Guilty

Joe Paterno     ✔  Guilty

   

Herman Cain   ✔   Guilty

Why is it that people who are knowingly guilty of things and shown it

plainly, why is it that so many of them lie outright to the masses who

they've been empowered by in the first place ? We need a conceptual

editorial from 'blast' on the subject, Thanks & All Best Regards

Well Len, I can try to tackle this one but it might be beyond my pay grade. Let's take your question bit by bit. The first two fellas are not politicians but they have been in the public eye for a while so let's give them a shot.

I actually have a bit of sympathy for Murray. He was trying to save his ass at the end, yes, but he had a drug addled psycho for a client and I highly doubt that he is responsible for the gloved one's addiction. Rich people are different than you and I, they are surrounded by enablers who are paid to look the other way. Remember when Liz Taylor was making lame excuses for jocko's penchant for young pubescents.

The privileged and the powerful don't play by the same rules that we do. I remember a british barrister roommate I had once overseas who was dumbfounded when I suggested that the almighty cared as much about your average cockney urchin as the Queen. Shorted his circuits completely.

I don't blame Murray for succumbing to Jackson's creepy solicitations. He sounded like he lived in a crypt and freaked the poor doctor out. His house was in bankruptcy, his practice in shambles, the hand picked physician was making 150k per month and was probably easily swayed. If wacko jacko cacked, well it wasn't poor Conrad's problem. The splotchy crooner handpicked a doctor who was in trouble and would do what he was told. Rich addict trick.

The whole story on Jo Pa is not out yet but what we have heard is despicable, especially the Nittany Lion offering that he had met his legal obligation. How many young lives were destroyed while the the top brass looked away and played coverup? I read a Penn State fan's comment today that it was merely a case of minor abuse. It was a minor, reportedly at least one ten year old, and he was abused yes, but it was not minor abuse. You bugger a ten year old in the shower, you wake up on the other side of the dirt, at least where I am from. I hope that they have Sandusky on suicide watch because they don't take real kindly to child molesters in the big house.

Herman Cain is a serious piece of work and now has added considerable weight to the old narrative of the oversexed bbc having his way with the white women. Too many people had heard the same story, and told people way back when about his direct crotch grab shenanigans for there not to be a little fire amongst all that smoke. Of course, the Republicans are going back to the victim card, a poor black conservative being persecuted by the evil mainstream liberal media. I listened to Hannity today and all I heard was Bill Ayres, Bill Ayres. Because Barack Obama has got such a free pass from Fox News and Town Hall you know?

Politicians and people in power like to fuck around. FDR, Eisenhower, the poster boy JFK, Slick Willie, Gingrich, Spitzer,Weiner, the list goes on and on. Like Tiger Woods, their super powers derive from their considerable and oh so adorable libido. The most amazing thing about the Cain allegations is that he is married to a Democrat. Saintly woman. Cain has never impressed me intellectually but that is neither here nor there.Say what you want, he has the best singing voice of any candidate and his alleged behavior does not seem to have hurt him much with his base. Tonight at the debates, Cain mentions that there are thousands of women that he didn't molest. That surely counts for something.

You wonder how brilliant people like Clinton and Weiner can indulge themselves and destroy all their political capital in one sordid swoop. Because the truth always will out. Of course Clinton is now piping up about allowing Presidents to serve three terms. You had your shot Bill, go away. The American public doesn't like to be lied to by their leaders.

Monica walks into her dry cleaning store and tells the guy, "I've got another dress for you to clean."

Slightly hard of hearing, the clerk replies, "Come again?"

"No," says Monica. "Ice cream."


Which brings you to our current President, Barack Obama. I am not necessarily going to accuse him of outright deceit. Politics is after all, the art of the possible. You can't always get to do everything you talked about accomplishing when you were out there bullshitting everyone on the campaign trail, at least in your first term. I have talked about his worse than Bush record on privacy and wiretaps, mountaintop mining and his about face on decriminalization. You are all sick and tired of hearing about all that. But when Dick Cheney is throwing you kisses and compliments about your apparent conversion on renditions, tribunals, turning a blind eye to the  CIA and torture, lets just say you aren't exactly upsetting the old apple cart.

Two things recently have pissed me off. Obama made a campaign pledge about not taking contributions from lobbyists. He made a recent disclosure that at least 15 of his "bundlers" were also lobbyists, an abrogation of his pledge. David Axelrod made the most lame ass justification for his boss I have heard in some time;

David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Obama, told CNN on Sunday that it was the president's own practice of disclosing his bundlers' names that made the story possible. Republican candidates, who have not sworn off cash from registered lobbyists, are likely signing up bundlers from the same crowd, but voters won't be able to find out as long as they decline to disclose the information.
"Everyone should understand the reason why The New York Times can write that story is because the president is disclosing everyone who raises money for him. None of the Republican candidates are willing to do that," Axelrod said. 

Uh, David, he said he wouldn't take money from lobbyists (whether they are legally registered or not.) I for one am sick of leaders from either party pissing on my leg and telling me it's actually raining. His own Chief of Staff, Bill Daley is an ex lobbyist with JPMorgan Chase.

"So we can quibble about issues like this, but when you look at the substance of what he's done, he's gone so much farther than anybody has ever gone before. Is it perfect? It's not perfect, Candy. We are not in a perfect political system," Axelrod said. "So it is not a perfect system. But is he better than anybody has ever been before on this? Has he made a real difference on this? Absolutely."

I am a liar but at least I am better than those other guys. Our country of course deserves better. The other Obama guy who is obviously an ace prevaricator is Eric Holder. Forget the weed memo and backtrack, I am talking Fast and Furious. Holder told a congressional investigation in May that he had learned about the operation only a few weeks earlier.

Tuesday he admits that he knew about it much, much earlier. In the hearing, Holder says he first learned about Fast and Furious at the beginning of the year and should have said in May that his knowledge of the sting dated back a couple of months rather than weeks. During the hearing, Grassley also pointed to a letter dated Feb. 4 in which the Justice Department said the operation did not involve gun-walking and that "ATF makes every effort to interdict weapons that have been purchased illegally and prevent their transportation to Mexico."

Holder admits that the letter contained erroneous information from ATF's Phoenix office but refused to accept blame.

But Grassley has five memos showing Holder knew about the ill fated venture back in 2010. Tell me the difference between erroneous information, a blunder and a lie again? Makes a fella hate politicians...

The American people deserve better, from both sides of the aisle.