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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (2815)	2/14/2002 12:18:55 PM
From: Patricia Trinchero	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15516

It would appear that the Pickering nomination is another part of the "well connected" oligarchy that is starting to control this country. More of the "good ole boys" network like the Scalia and Bush families where father gets his son into a leading position as the result of the father's connections. It is critical to constantly inject new blood into our gov't so as to continue the flow of creative ideas. TO illustrate my thoughts I want to use the family business as a model. The first person to achieve success in a family business has to have had a strong focus on his work ethics. That founder of the business had to work very hard to accomplish success. He or she had a vision and the drive to turn that vision into a thriving entity. When that founder turns over the family business to his offspring, they are usually not as "hungry" as the parent. They lack the focus and vision needed to take the business forward. It is rare that a family business survives into the third generation unless "outsiders" are brought onboard to the executive level. Most companies incorporate ,go public and hire others with experience to operate the various sides of the business. The only third generation, successful family business is the Rothschild's winery ( and let's face it they only have to keep some wino's happy......LOL ). My point is that we cannot allow this country to be lead by an oligarchy of second and third generation appointees that have been handed their positions...........like shrub. He is clearly not an achiever in his own right. Do we, as Americans want our policies shaped by men or women who were not self-starters? Our founding fathers left England to escape a ruling class..............why is this country allowing the creation of our own "ruling class". The passing of the Shays Meehan Bill will be a start to recovery. But, it will only be a start and much work is left to be done if Americans are to reclaim democracy. Pat

To: Mephisto who wrote (2815)	3/20/2002 1:09:52 AM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

Sen. Lott's Retribution washingtonpost.com Tuesday, March 19, 2002; Page A20 JUDGING FROM the way Trent Lott lashed out following the Judiciary Committee's rejection of his friend and fellow Mississippian, U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering, as a nominee to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, it may be, as they say in the helping professions, that the senator has some anger issues to address. Within hours of Judge Pickering's party-line defeat, Sen. Lott moved to block a $1.5 million request by the committee to conduct a probe related to Sept. 11 miscues, obstructed the nomination of an aide to Senate Majority Leader om Daschle to the Federal Communications Commission, and signaled that there may be more parliamentary choke points where those came from: "You'll see it in a lot of ways and in a lot of days," warned Sen. Lott. He is clearly behaving as a victim done wrong. That is a worrisome mind-set because, as minority leader, Mr. Lott's current impulsive, negative method of dealing with his anger could disrupt the Senate's important work. This isn't to say Mr. Lott doesn't have some cause to be a bit touchy these days. The past 10 months haven't been exactly peachy. The Pickering debacle is only the latest in a string of personal reversals that could leave even the most self-confident legislator feeling a bit unappreciated. First of all, last May Jim Jeffords, Mr. Lott's good friend and a fellow crooner in the "Singing Senators" quartet, defected from the Republican Party, giving Democrats a majority and costing Mr. Lott the best job he ever had as the Senate's powerful leader. Next, Sen. Lott had to watch as his Mississippi friend and ally, Curt Hebert, resigned from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission because of disagreements with the Bush administration's stance on energy deregulation. That was followed by the recent ouster of Mike Parker, another Trent Lott friend and Mississippian, as civilian head of the Army Corps of Engineers. Now, on the heels of Mr. Parker's forced resignation, the Senate's top Republican finds himself unable even to deliver the goods for a longtime friend and a home state judge who probably would not have been nominated by President Bush were it not for Sen. Lott's sponsorship and strong backing. Judge Pickering, a jurist of slim talents, should have been refused a seat on the appeals court. But his rejection must be especially hard for Sen. Lott to swallow. Is that cause, however, for a senior senator to become passive- (or not-so-passive-) aggressive, striking out at his perceived enemies indirectly through acts of petty destructiveness? Sen. Lott's irrational response is only going to escalate an already unhealthy political climate in the Senate. The senator should do some deep breathing and consider the possibility that no one is out to get him, that Mississippi can do better than Judge Pickering, and that even as minority leader, he's still got a job that keeps him out of the sun. © 2002 The Washington Post Company washingtonpost.com