All About Trey

The Rules of the Game

Deep down I like rules. I do. They provide a comfortable framework for people to operate, interact, and deal with each other. Some of them are a pain, but for the most part, they make sense and it helps you get an idea on what a potential response should be to a certain situation. When you play fair, you are playing by the rules. No hits below the belt, nothing like that. And when a society needs to codify a set of rules, they become laws. It helps make a civilized society run smoothly. Laws are a good thing.

So bending the rules and breaking the laws upsets me. And lately, that's all we've been seeing from some of our elected officials. I saw this clip on Crooks and Liars where the Republican leadership extended the 5 minutes alloted to vote on the Energy Bill to over 50 minutes so they could coerce some representatives to change their minds. The democracts, fighting using parlimentary rules, kept asking how long the vote would be open and the Repbulican brazenly ignored them. Pesky little rules. Why should they stop us from giving more money and more tax breaks to the big oil companies who are RAKING in the profits already?

And laws? Why should laws stop us from funneling money from special interest groups to politicians, or their wives and families, in exchange for a vote?

It's all so blatant now. I will admit that this has happened in the past. By democrats and republicans alike. But the just raw hubris and disdain for rules and laws currently being exhibited by the republicans just makes me ill. If you want an example of how power corrupts and how absolute power corrupts absolutely, just check out the link above or just look at the newpapers. The sad thing is that more people aren't aware of the rampant abuse of the public's trust. Or they know and just don't care, which is even sadder.

posted by Trey @ 12:21 PM