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Please excuse the Kubrick reference…but sometimes it feels like we are approaching a “Strangelovian” catastrophe.

Welcome to the age of incumbent superpowers, where the rules that apply to the everyday American citizen don’t apply to the people who work for us in the government. Perhaps it is a symptom of the “Old Boy” network in Washington, which continually seeks to protect its own ranks and insulate those in power from the full scope of the law. That is partially true. What is closer to the truth is that in Washington our politicians believe they are above the law. Just because they help draft laws does not mean they are above them (which might be obvious to us common folk).

The most recent news on the corruption in Washington is Representative Charlie Rangel, who was charged with 13 counts of corruption by the House Ethics committee. According to the New York Times, Rangel’s charges included”

“…his improper use of his office to solicit donations for a City University of New York center to be named in his honor; his failure to report rental income from his villa in the Dominican Republic and to pay taxes on it; his omission of some $600,000 in assets on his House financial disclosure forms; and his acceptance from a Manhattan developer of four rent-stabilized apartments, one of which he used as a campaign office.”

One might think that this is enough to put one of our politicians in jail (because it surely is enough to bag someone like me for at least tax evasion). However, the Ethics committee recommended only a “reprimand” for Rangel and not an ousting. The NY Times defends this by saying that other recent ethics hearings, Barney Frank and Newt Gingrich, were also resolved with reprimands. What it doesn’t tell you is that Frank’s crime was the use of Federal stationary and 83 of Gingrich’s 84 charges were dropped and the hearing was inconclusive (they left the determination of criminal activity up to the IRS). So, if those two cases ended in reprimands how can Rangel’s possibly be treated in the same way?

Representative Charlie Rangel should be ousted for disgracing his office and the Federal Government of the United States.

If you have seen the new GM commercials you know what I am talking about. GM CEO Ed Whitacre speaks about how GM has paid back its loan to the United States, with interest, and that GM’s new goal is to make their company a company that America can be proud of again. People who [...]

The events unfolding in the Southwestern U.S. are quite troubling. Can cities and states wage economic warfare against each other? That is what Los Angeles has done by effectively levying an embargo on Arizona’s goods and services. In turn, Arizona has threatened to turn off its electrical supply to the city. If you took the [...]

Many will remember Arlen Specter for his deft political maneuvering over the past couple of years (I will personally remember him for screaming at Ted Kennedy during the Judicial Confirmation hearings of Justice Alito). Last night marked the end of his long career in his defeat in a Democratic primary election. Speculation concerning the political [...]

A recent Center for Disease Control and Prevention study reports that suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States and that there are more suicides each year than homicides. Suicide is also most common among men, Native Americans, whites and people between 45 and 54 years of age. This is quite [...]

Commercials are changing. Think about commercials from 15 years ago: mini narratives selling a specific aspect of a product. Reliable cars, tasty snacks, comfortable shoes. Today, the nature of the commercial has changed. Quirky humor and randomness dominate…just take a look at Progressive Insurance or Geico. Somewhere in the background a product is sold but [...]