Wrestling Government: Simmons vs. McMahon

I am a great lover of money.

Money is fabulous. Good cold hard cash gives the ability not only to survive, but also to thrive. In a way this country’s raison d’etre is currency and there is really nothing wrong with that. I am actually very lenient when it comes to the means with which money is accumulated with the exception of stealing. However, when it comes to an individuals’ ambition to be a public servant, I believe money should never be a factor, especially when it comes to campaigns.

Left up to me all facets of Government would follow the edict of a 10^th Century Monastic Priory; with the legislature as the priory monks, the President as the Bishop and the People as Pope. All levels of Government would operate from bare bones offices with little or no comforts and the sole purpose of serving the people. They would eat horse-bread softened with weak ale, and spend every waking moment of their term working. Their campaigns would be financed evenly through a very sparse fund made up of taxes. The system would be heavily enforced by the public and the second any legislator, or the President, were observed partaking in anything other than what is rationed, they would unceremoniously be dismissed back into private life.

This way anyone fool enough to run for office would do so with only the best of intentions; that is to serve and not be self-serving. We could avoid those egomaniacal people who feel they should somehow be able to buy their way into government, so they can feel loved, or because it is just the “next thing to do” on their life agenda. We could also avoid the sons and daughters of millionaires who devoid of any need to do anything, decide to run for public office because “they want to make a difference”. Yes, only those with a religious like zeal to serve would run for office.

Ok, my fantasies aside, this is what I really want to talk about. A few months ago I wrote a post about the Senate Race in Connecticut, and the feud between Republican candidates Rob Simmons and Linda McMahon. See it here:

http://blogofirreverence.blogspot.com/2010/02/rob-simmons-vs-linda-mcmahon-smackdown.html  

Linda McMahon is the perfect example of pure narcissistic foulness to be found in recent political history (with the exception of Lord Falderal, he’s the gold standard), while Rob Simmons is the perfect example of the aforementioned public servant.

McMahon is rich, seriously rich, and she doesn’t even try to hide the fact she is using her dough to try and buy her way into the Senate. Which is not incongruous to her character. This is a person who has made her fortune through morally reprehensible means. McMahon and her husband Vince are the owners of the WWE. That alone should give some perspective to the situation.

In other words, she has become rich by advocating violence, sexual depravity, drug use, and myriad other deplorable business undertakings the likes of which could make Larry Flynt blush.

Now McMahon is using that dough to change her persona into that of the ultimate Polly Anna, eschewing values, female empowerment, and appearing to be as boring as Barbara Boxer, or Nancy Pelosi. The question is will all that money be able to erase McMahon’s involvement in such antics as; kicking her husband in the nads in a wrestling ring after he cheated on her with a female wrestler (all scripted), allowing and in fact, supporting scenes in the ring simulating necrophilia, or one of my favs, defending wrestlers employed by the WWE who took part in such austere film renderings as: Girls Chloroform Girls, Tied, Gagged & Frightened, and who could forget, Dirty Soled Dolls.

She has also used her position to obstruct justice (she was never formerly charged of this, it is my opinion) by alerting a Doctor who prescribed steroids to her wrestlers of an impending Federal Investigation against him. This allegedly allowed said doctor to break company with certain pieces of evidence, which would have shed a poor light on McMahon, her husband and their company. The doctor was sentenced to time in a Federal prison and although McMahon’s husband was also brought up on charges he was not convicted. Here is a fun read:

http://www.theday.com/article/20100409/NWS12/100409727/1017

As part of her Polly Anna disguise, McMahon has claimed she is a DC outsider and is wildly against special interest groups. This despite the fact the WWE spent a cool million + bucks lobbying both houses as well as various Federal Agencies. Well, I guess in relative terms she is an outsider, a mil won’t buy you much at the Federal level these days. But, it does prove she is a huge liar; as does a vetting form she filled out for Governor M. Jodi Rell when she was being considered as an appointee to the Connecticut State Board of Education in 2009. Out of 29 questions, she answered five to the negative, when proving out found she may have had a lapse in memory. You can check it out here:

http://articles.courant.com/2010-04-04/news/hc-mcmahon-questionnaire-0404.artapr04_1_linda-mcmahon-answers-wrestling

To be fair, I did say in the beginning of this post I have no problem with a little leniency towards how the money is made. After all if there is a demand, I say go ahead and supply. Truth to be told, I would enjoy McMahon’s company say, at a bar, or cocktail party, or maybe an illegal cock fight, but not ever and I mean ever, would I want to see such a person in Government.

In Connecticut, everywhere you look Linda McMahon has an ad. She is trying to win the campaign based on market saturation. That’s dangerous. She realizes the only way she can possibly win is by a complete image overhaul and money tends to be pretty effective in achieving that end. Of course, it is an image overhaul, not a character overhaul. Nothing can change her character. She will always be someone who stood behind violence, drug abuse, and morally reprehensible behavior.

What voters need to do is take the initiative and look at the character of the person running and not the purse they are operating from. A guy like Rob Simmons isn’t in it for the money, the need to be admired, or some other sinister desire. He’s a guy who has done nothing but serve the public his entire career. Through his Military service, time spent in the CIA and Congress, plus his other achievements; Simmons has proven the people are what motivate his actions. THAT is a public servant. I am not sure what the hell Linda McMahon is.

I must admit she has given me a newfound respect for Jesse Ventura!

White House: The New Carnegie Hall?

I love culture and art. But, man am I going to piss off my artist friends with this blog!

Music has been behind any project I have ever done creatively that was worth anything more than a trip to the circular file. In my mind, I can document any and all important eras and events in my life through the songs or artists I was listening to at the time. I put a very high value on music and it is an integral part of the memories that make up my life.

If I were President, you could bet your Great Aunt Betty’s sweet bippy that any chance I got, my musical heroes would be entertaining my “Leader of the Free World” fat ass right there in the East Room. Ian Anderson would be prancing around with his flute like my own personal Krishna, or Kokopelli, (although he’s a bit long in the tooth, that whole standing on one leg playing the flute thing may not work anymore) I would have Sting doing an acoustic set with Mary J. Blige, and L.L. Cool J would be telling me about my mom telling me to knock someone out. All of the best scientists would be replicating Johnny Cash’s DNA so I could hear “Tennessee Horse” one more time, and Soundgarden would be doing “Spoonman” with the White House’s best silver. Now, that’s what I’m talking about!

Lord Falderal has been doing a pretty good job hosting some decent jam sessions since he got into the White House and far be it from me to begrudge him that, or the basketball court for that matter. (Although I would replace that with biggest freakin wet bar made of ice you have ever seen.) All Presidents bring in their favorite musicians at one time or another during their terms. I wonder if JFK had Maurice Chevalier perform? Have to look that one up!

Recently, Falderal hosted a night of protest music from the Civil Rights movement in the East Room, and man, I would have loved to been there. Smokey Robinson, Seal, Bob Dylan and a host of others were there doing live versions of some of the best music ever written. Morgan Freeman, who quipped he wished he could sing, delivered some of the most powerful lyrics and quotes to come out of the civil rights era.  I would have loved to hear that. Hell, I would even sit through one of Falderal’s laborious TelePrompTer fed rhetoric sessions to just to get Freeman’s voice belting out words of inspiration from people much smarter than I, or Falderal.

This was a good thing, especially during Black History month. The message was very important and I give Falderal credit for arranging such a night. It’s admirable he is expressing and using his own ascension to showcase what has been a hard and well-fought fight by people of color. I like that Falderal is drawing attention to the success of civil rights leaders and not backing away from it. I felt he downplayed the authenticity of the civil rights movement during his seemingly endless campaign in favor of appeasing his political handlers who obviously told him to softball those issues.

There is only one positive thing that came out of the Falderal election in my opinion; the American public has finally evolved enough to elect a person of color to the most powerful position on Earth. I’m proud of that. These days that’s the only thing I am proud of when it comes to the American Presidency. I remember being both incredibly psyched and completely devastated on election night. The fact this country elected a black man President was an overwhelming feeling. The fact they elected the wrong black man made me want to pull my teeth out one by one. It also made me pissed as hell at George Bush, but that is a blog for another time.

The problem with Falderal exercising his executive privilege to bring artists to perform for him at the White House is the situation has become out of control. There is to be a White House concert series broadcast on NPR called “In Performance at the White House”, and it is actually getting a lot of press.

My issue here is this; is this the right time to be spending taxpayer money on a concert series at the White House? Is this the right message? I’m for federal funding of arts projects even in bad times, but does anyone realize what the cost is to put on one of these White House soirees? Once in a while, fine. Keep in mind, we pay for EVERYTHING associated with these performances and with a 4 trillion dollar deficit, that means my great-great grandchildren will be getting FICA withdrawals for Jennifer Hudson’s Town Car service from Reagan to the West Entrance.

The White House as Carnegie Hall? Nah, not a good idea. If we were living fat and happy I wouldn’t have much of a problem with it, but we’re not.

This is not a huge issue, but it is a common sense one. If I have a $200.00 paycheck and I need it for food, rent, diapers, whatever, but there is an Oingo Boingo show I really need to see for $199.99, what am I going to do? In this scenario I am not 18, but my current age of 40, so the answer should be clear. This is a wild example since Oingo Boingo would be lucky to get $9.99 per ticket, but I think the point is well illustrated.

I am not even going to get into the message it sends to those already dying to blow our butts to Kingdom Come. That’s a horse of an entirely different color.

Right idea, right message, wrong time.