Suckers or Visionaries?

This morning was a shocker here in Streeterville. Suddenly winter returned with a revenge. The snow once more covered the ground. The big winter waves were crashing on the shore and over the running path. I got into the car and began my morning commute and though it was sunny under blue skies, it was 14 degrees at the Mini. Then my classroom was cold when I got to the outpost. I let the kids wear coats in the classroom until later in the day when it warmed up. I suppose I was just a hopeless Pollyanna, a real sucker, thinking that it would continue to stay warmer until Spring arrived with no more serious winter.

I found myself wondering about Roland Burris today, Senator Roland Burris of Illinois. First there was the flap about him accepting the nomination to the Senate from former Governor Blagojevich (Rod the Mod) when no one else would and he making a racial issue out of it. There was Mr. Burris saying he had never discussed money with Rod the Mod. Then someone lets it out that he is on tape talking to Rod the Mod's brother about fundraising. Then he swore that was the only time and he told him he couldn't raise money for Rod because it would look like something illegal. Then someone let it out that he had talked to Rod the Mod's people several times and maybe talked about fundraising. Now Burris is claiming that the press is making something out of nothing and he is entirely innocent of any wrongdoing.

Let's see, "I've done nothing illegal or wrong." Where have I heard that before? Hmmm, Rod Blagojevich, Richard Nixon, former Governor George Ryan of Illinois (now in federal prison), former Congressman Dan Rostenkowsky of Illinois who I believe has finished his prison term at this point, Alderperson Arenda Troutman of Chicago who was just sentenced to 4 years in prison..... I understand that 4 Illinois Governors have been sentenced to prison since 1951. One more was acquitted of income tax evasion. Rod the Mod will make it 5 Illinois Governors since 1951, if he is convicted.

All of this is just in the state of Illinois. If we were to take a look at other states, the list would become staggeringly long. I understand that Sarah Palin is being forced to repay the state of Alaska for expenses she billed the state while staying at her own home instead of the Governor's Mansion in the state capital. How many people has President Obama nominated for cabinet positions who, as it turns out, have income tax problems, or suspicious campaign donation problems? This is just on the government side. The business community is hardly better or more honest and upstanding.

As David Byrne asked, "How did I get here?" Come to think of it he also said, "My God! What have I done?" For the great majority of us in America, those of us who are not of the political or business elite, we have not done anything wrong. The question is "How did the country get here?" and "My God! What have they done now?" Most of us pay our taxes faithfully. Most of us scrupulously avoid embezzlement, bribery, Ponzi schemes, and various and assorted white collar crime that will get you a slap on the wrist and a couple of years at a minimum security prison. Most of us don't count our net worth in the millions and millions of dollars.

I guess what I wonder is "Are we all being played for suckers?" Are all of us who play by the rules just poor saps who are doomed to continue being pawns in the big kids' games? How did the country, and for that matter, advanced industrial societies of the world get to this point, that the big players are so uniformly amoral and corrupt. Does making money or getting power corrupt us? Would you and I become the same way if we were allowed into the corridors of power? I'd like to believe not. Perhaps that's why no one has ever asked me into the corridors of power.

I'd like to believe that there are still some rich and powerful persons out there who do play by the rules, who do still honestly care about the rest of the world and what happens to our planet. I'd like to believe that there are some of the influential who actually pay their friggin taxes. Unfortunately, that number is pretty small. The entire system is rotten to the core and it is going to take a radical paradigm shift to change how business as usual operates. That will take time and effort. I hope this is what those linked to President Obama are attempting to pull off.

Then again, is it just as P.T. Barnum said, "A sucker is born every minute." And those of us who think that honesty and fair play are possible are just shining examples of those suckers, waiting to be fleeced by the next guy with a good line and an entertaining show.