Send in the Clowns

Brazil went to the polls on Sunday and elected a clown, Tiriricia, to congress with 1.3million votes. He won with the most votes of any candidate with the slogan “it cannot get any worse.” Tiriricia admitted that he does not know what a congress man does, but promised to report back what they do. Maybe Brazil’s electorate chose to reward honesty, which politicians are often derided for not possessing, by voting for Tiriticia. The question is could Brazilians have done worse? I think they could have, had they embraced the American style of Political Clown.

The American Political Clown is today embodied by the Tea Party candidates. Christen O’Donnell is such an easy target from her position on masturbation, to the latest ad where she tells her viewers she is not a witch. Sarah Palin is also another easy target for all of her clown like statements like Death Panels. Also Joe Miller, one of Palin’s minions. Miller believes that every bill must cite where in the Constitution grants the federal government the right to make that statue. Miller’s political philosophy is the one that everything the federal government undertakes is somehow unconstitutional, like the Health Care reform. Miller chose to ignore the parts of the Constitution, the clause that calls for congress to insure the general welfare of the people, and the necessary and proper clause. Miller must think each is independent and works in a vacuum from each other. Like Tiriricia, Miller really has no idea how congress works or what a congressman does, but he does believe he should be the benefit of its welfare in the form of farm subsidies and a congressional paycheck.

The group of politicos currently in office is not much better, and still seem to know less about what is going on in congress than any other ordinary citizen. The Republicans in congress have made a Pledge to America, that is nothing more than a rehash of the Contract with America that sweep Republicans into office in 1994. This time short on specifics, but long on denouncements, the pledge bashes deficits but wants to extend the Bush taxes. Extending the tax cuts would drive up the deficit another 4 trillion dollars over the ten year period, and would have nothing to show for it, no roads, no bridges, even the ones to nowhere, nothing but a whole in the budget. This crew panders to those who somehow think that you can increase revenues by cutting off your source of income and starve the rest of the government to death.

So yes Tiriricia, it could get worse, Brazil could be saddled with Americas Clowns and that would be much worse for everyone. By the way Tiriricia, if you are reading this, I have a friend who can help you with your illiteracy all you have to do is send him five US dollars and he will write you back on how to beat illiteracy. But do not worry, must members of congress do not read the proposed Legislation here anyway, given more than a year and they cannot finish a 1000 page doubled spaced printed in a font for the hard of seeing, and still manage to claim it was shoved down our throats.