The Cultural Demise of Congress

Dan Abbett

The intent of this writing is to address the overall decay of the legislative branch of our government. Their decline is one devoid of values, personal conviction and absent a moral compass. Today, the American electorate no longer bases their choice for representation on qualifications, rather on which candidate did a better job of trashing his or her respective opponent.

PR is king, BS is norm, IQ is nonessential.

It is with great interest that I evaluate the actions of some conservative journalists, for whom to this point I have held in high regard and many Republican members of Congress, for whom I also had the greatest respect. Watching many in those ranks now jumping ship, “eating their own” if you will, in the face of the latest political scandal, has caused serious re-evaluation of my previous regard.

Enter the debacle of “former” Congressman Mark Foley. Congressman Foley resigned abruptly after an “overly friendly email” was made public between himself and a sixteen year old male Congressional Page. I don’t know where to draw the line on Mr. Foley’s conduct, as I witness the faux outrage from the same politicians who now excoriate the ex-Congressman, and yet fight ferociously for policies such as partial birth abortion.

Mr. Foley’s actions were an egregious breach of ethical, personal and moral conduct. Partial birth abortion is a heinous act, bordering, if not crossing the line between a medical practice and murder.

Two forces now shape the face of Congress, issues and scandal. Scandal now outranks the issues by serious orders of magnitude. Even more damning is the fact that it appears that the American people are more influenced by a juicy scandal than the qualifications to perform the duties required of elected office.

As I write, North Korea has stated that it is preparing for a nuclear test; European diplomats have declared that they have made no progress in ending Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the whole of radical Islam anticipates the collapse of our resolve. All our politicians and media can focus on however is the deviant conduct of one member of Congress.

Heaven help us if we ever have to call upon our elected body to react to actions greater than finger pointing.

To belabor the past or present ethical transgressions of politicians, many of whom still remain in either the Senate or Congress, would be both counter productive and redundant. The point is, some whose transgressions outweigh those of former Congressman Foley, continue to retain elected office and are among those now excoriating him. They long ago shattered the house of glass as it were and now throw stones with impunity.

As a rule, it would seem Congress is not motivated to perform any action that is in anyway controversial or may harm their chances for re-election. Retaining office is the prime directive in twenty first century Washington. This instinct for self-preservation has turned the body elected to implement the people’s business into a cesspool of self-serving opportunists.

Today, members of Congress are nothing more than actors, waxing appropriate for the immediate circumstance. Any true element of conviction and motivation among members of Congress is rare to non-existent. The current drama being performed by these mostly bad actors is a pathetic performance of pandering. The only thing more repugnant are the cheers they receive from an ill-informed audience.

What to expect however, from an electorate that believes the posters and marquis displayed by a partisan media. With such a potent PR team, Congress is beholden only to its marketing department. The result is an America that no longer thinks for itself, it gullibly accepts the news, broadcast, print and cable as gospel.

The truth is, we, the American people really don’t have a clue as to the truth behind the actions of Congress. Knowing that they are fully insulated from their constituents, Congress has decayed into a corrupt society. It is high time that the “grassroots” became the lawnmower!

Email: danabbett1@charter.net