New Blue Line

The "thin blue line" has always had a double meaning. The benign definition was the police as the force for good, standing between the law-abiding and the chaos and destruction of criminality. The second sinister meaning suggests the "us" against "them" mentality and "we" always stick together to advance and protect our own, and this second insidious definition also could characterize today's political class. That is why so much bad law is being passed, (as we have seen in the protect incumbency McCain-Feingold speech stifling travesty) as those in power seek to perpetuate themselves in office, vouchsafe their privilege, and advance themselves, their families, their colleagues, and those who offer them the most inducements by way of lobbying or in the Chicago fashion of plain, old graft. Too many in D.C. and even local politicians regard the voter as a sucker, nothing more than a revenue source, a spoiled whiner making demands, and an enemy, who does not deserve to be represented but does merit being taking advantage of- such is the contempt of the politician for the public. Neither party is immune with those in power sticking together to shaft the taxpayer and trick the voter. Sadly, there appear to be no statesmen to rise above politics and self-interest and "honest politician" seems in far too many instances an active oxymoron.