By Mark Ross, Contributing Writer
Back in 1972 I had the occasion to visit the Security National Bank in Walnut Creek… as part of my environmental journalist responsibilities. I didn’t get to meet with its CEO, Fortney H. “Pete” Stark, but his presence was felt. A giant peace symbol greeted me as I approached the front door.
It wasn’t long before “Pete” received, from the voters, a lifetime appointment to the U.S. House of Representatives. Ol’ Pete is now in his late seventies. A lot of the Democrat hacks-for-life from the Bay Area are getting really, really long in the tooth. Ronald V. Dellums shocked the world by voluntarily retiring from Congress… presumably in order to hand pick his successor, Babs Lee, thus costing Alameda County millions in special election expenses. Then he woke up and knew he had to save Oakland. From what? It now seems from himself.
It is widely assumed that Ol’ Pete is without doubt the most obnoxious member of the House of Representatives. For the Bay Area delegation, that’s a tough competition. You got your George Miller, thuggish labor lawyer. Nancy Pelosi, super-rich East Coast carpet bagger (too bad she couldn’t ditch the accent). Mike Honda of the South Bay is probably the cuddliest of them all. Diane Feensteen is less obnoxious than most… but as a stuporvisor in SF she pushed two failed laws: One was to ban the swastika… as an illegal symbol, the other was to require that all political speeches contain nothing but the truth. My initial reaction was to imagine the panel of “special experts” who were responsible for ferreting out untruths in political speeches. Next thing, because of a buzzed out Irishman (Twinkies, don‘t you know), she was mayor of SF and on her way to stardom… still not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.
The direction this diatribe is heading concerns the palpable lack of serious competition in selecting our official power brokers. California and the United States are in the midst of a political crisis of epic proportion. Something as basic as fiscal accountability has been criminally neglected… leaving local, state and federal finances in total chaos. Mutant dwarfs resulting from incestuous political marriages, who write our laws, have just raised sales tax in the middle of a retail recession… because they have committed the most deadly of all civic sins: they have put the government ahead of the people.
Their flawed calculus is that a voting majority does not identify itself as taxpayers.
Today, wherever you go, try mentioning taxes and see what people do around you. They are pissed. And this is only the beginning. The trial balloons floating over D.C. and Sacramento would gag a maggot: Taxing health care benefits as income, limiting the deductibility of home mortgage interest, value added tax (VAT), plus a plethora of increases and additions… once again in a recession!
For years I have mused that the American political dynamic mirrors the “town and gown” tensions typical of places like Madison, Wisconsin or Bloomington, Indiana. There, academic elites have been gathered from all over the world and have been obliged to share space with indigenous locals who labor humbly on farms and in factories. Urban centers, like our Bay Area, are dominated by leftist progressives. Were our local elites to be truly sophisticated we’d be, at least, a little closer to utopia. However, they have been imbued with pseudo knowledge… the products of excessive political influence over education. Their agendas are overwhelmed with frauds and hoaxes… never questioned. The humble bumpkins who clean up after the elites can’t afford the “luxury” of believing in crap… their lives are too marginal to be further diminished with unnecessary errors… that is, unless they become wards of the state.
Meanwhile back to Ol’ Pete. I have no way of knowing if he has syphilis of the brain… but it would be a convenient way of explaining his erratic and obnoxious behavior. He recently was hospitalized with pneumonia and quipped that it would help him further perfect his vision of socialized medicine for the bumpkins. At 78 he’s the oldest Congressthing from the Bay Area. Lynne Woolsey is next at 71. Then Pelosi at 69. Curiously, their official websites don’t show their ages. You can expect some serious turnover during the next decade or so… but they’ll probably get away with nominating their own sons and daughters to maintain control of the family business. Boy, do I love democracy!
6/17/09
ReplyDeleteYes you have made some good points, but tell me Mark does it hurt. I mean do you really feel the pain or is just those gin and tonics talking to pass the time of day?
And Mark if it does hurt , where does it hurt in the pocket book, it the future or in place we will not mention here? Do you really care? Care is for the young and you re old, ike in old fart. Your time has come and gone nd as a preacher you will need some help.
Love and kisses
Larry
When I was studying biology in school a professor told us about a strange creature. It started out as a free floating jellyfish like thing with a small brain. Once it found a good home it metamorphosed into a anemone like creature and ate it's own brain in the process.
ReplyDeleteThe Professor viewed it as natures version of tenure, but many examples of this phenomenon exist. With the spoils system in Washington I expect it will go indefinitely.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteThank you for saying what needed to be said about Mr. Stark. I don't think Congressman Stark has syphilis of the brain but is just mannerless. He has been rude to his constituents for decades. I attended many of his town hall meetings in the 80s and 90s when I lived in Hayward and he could be counted on to insult most of us in the room within the hour alloted for Hayward. It is not his age either he just has the elite liberal sense that he is above the law. Also, he believes he can tell everyone he represents how to live because he is sure he knows better than we do what is good for us.
Keep up the good work and enjoy the martinis.
Marion
All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.
ReplyDelete