Politics, I just can't get away from politics

Remember Pinky and the Brain? It was a cartoon about a mouse (the brain) who was trying to take over the world and his lovable, dim-witted, very lucky side-kick, Pinky. I sometimes think of The Brain as being a cartoon representation of what I'm trying to do.

One aspect of the Brain is that he would study humans who tried to rule the world, study their errors, and try to enact their plans while avoiding the errors they made. Smart mousy.

So, Tom DeLay seems to be on the run now. Maybe now he regrets that cheesy mug shot smile. One of his aides has plead guilty to charges of taking money and rigging votes in congress. Apparently, the aide is talking and willing to tell more.

But, you have to admire DeLay's overall plan. It seems to have been a stroke of genius as well as a two pronged attack on America.

First, he had the brilliant idea to "redistricting" congressional jurisdictions so to create "republican" districts and thus allow the republican party to seize control of a congress that has been controlled by voted in democrats for generations. Genius. Americans didn't even realize that was what was happening. When the media started reporting the strongholds of the republican party gaining strength, many just jumped on the band wagon. I mean, if you can't get your ball to drop through the hoop -- rather than work on your shot, why not alter the ball or hoop?

Secondly, with his new influence over newly elected republicans, he gained a reputation of being able to "get out the vote" on specific issues. I think the nickname I've heard is "the hammer" -- because he can hammer out the support for any cause. But, what newbie congress people and the American public didn't know was that the position DeLay was taking on issues wasn't based on his conservative agenda, his moral character, or even constituent leanings -- it was based on cash paid. That's what his aide has confessed to and plead guilty to -- peddling votes. This is all tied in with convicted "lobbyist" abramohoff or what ever his name is. Interest groups would pay the lobbyist to talk to congressmen -- the lobbyist would pay the congressman, and the congressman would tell his colleagues how to vote. Again, genius.

Almost a perfect plan. Except that they got caught. Still, that goofy mug shot was worth a thousand words. I don't know if the American public will ever really know how many laws were shoved through congress based on a few well paid people as opposed to what was right. However, the cynic in me is likely to believe that most Americans won't give a crap.

Oh yeah -- the photo above? I snagged it from a web site called duryea.org and the pinky and the brain characters are owned, I think, by Warner Brothers. Genius.