Abraham Lincoln & Washington Lobbyists

It is heartbreaking to see how the values have changed dramatically in this country. Today’s The New York Times published an article - Business Lobby Presses Agenda Before '08 Vote - just to show us how this is the reality we deal with. Business Lobbyists with their open wallets lure politicians into money nets of special interest and voila!, before you say "cheese" they are caught, cooked and ready to do whatever the moneymen tells them to do.

That brings up memories. Once upon a time there were a man named Abraham Lincoln. In his famous Gettysburg Address he uttered immemorial words - "...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." – and, paradoxically, he was right. The government by the people and for the people did not perish; only "the people" is the ubiquitous lobbying moneymen and his open valet. The government is their servant. Once upon a time it was supposed to be yours.

The question naturally arises: have the politicians of nowadays ever really fought for an average man, like legendary Jimmy Stewart did in Frank Capra's 1939 classic, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington? When I get depressed by watching or reading about politicians of today, Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart's story of corruption and the greatness of men who resist it makes me feel a little bit better.