Monday, February 25, 2008

The Do-Nothing Congress or Roger Clemens' butt

Appeared in print February 20, 2008

Sometimes you have to wonder how the hell Congress spends its time and our money. Last week, Congress dispelled all mystery with a spectacular display of Congressional irresponsibility by arguing the finer points of Roger Clemens’ tush.

The hearing was a pitiful display of misplaced power, an example of a Congress run amok. Massachusetts even had a representative on the subcommittee hosting the hearing, Rep. Stephen Lynch. He spent his five minutes talking exclusively about Clemens’s buttocks. In particular, an abscess Clemens allegedly developed after McNamee improperly injected a steroid intramuscularly. I have to wonder how much time the honorable Representative spent on that stirring line of questioning.

On and on about Roger Clemens’ butt. Wednesday’s Congressional circus/witch hunt was more for congressional representatives to showboat than about trying to determine who was lying: Clemens, with his bleeding caboose and lack of memory, or McNamee with his changing memory and slimy ways.

At the end of the day, McNamee turned out to be a dweeb, made something by the caliber of men he served rather than honoring the tradition of his former career as a police officer. He was a pusher, a supplier, a purveyor of drugs that gave his clients the all-important edge, at the cost of his soul or at least his mail order Ph.D.

Clemens, for his portion of the dog and pony show, looked like a moron. He, and anyone who did not advise him to avoid a Congressional hearing at all costs, did a great disservice by appearing on Capitol Hill. He looked like a doof, saying McNamee and his good friend Andy Pettitte, “misremembered” their conversations. His dear friends “misheard” his comments during the period in question. In fact, Clemens’ really brought back a sort of Clintonian nausea stopping short of defining the meaning of ‘is.’

And then there is Arlen Specter, the senior senator from Pennsylvania, making a mad grab for power by trying to bring down the almighty Patriots. He wants to investigate the NFL investigation into the Patriots taping scandal.

Congress needs to solve real problems instead of going after these made-up ones. We are at war, the economy is sinking into a recession, a presidential election looms and looky here, we’re stuck with the Do-Nothing-Congress. Wasn’t this Congress elected with a mandate to get out of the war in Iraq? Wasn’t this Congress going to finally start funding education? Aren’t we all supposed to be better off now?

Tell that to those facing foreclosure, those who lost their homes, seniors with property taxes outpacing cost of living increases in their social security, parents that fight tooth and nail to obtain an education for a disabled child. The Democrats rule the legislature, so why can’t they get anything done?

This presidential election, on the Democrat side, is all about CHANGE. Change for what, of what? Change back to the “blame other people” politics of the Clintons? Or Barack Obama, a freshman Senator, spending more time on the campaign trail than voting on the floor. I wonder how the residents of the great state of Illinois feel about their AWOL representation. According to CNN, Obama has made less than a quarter of Senate votes. How can you change anything if you do not vote?

And therein lays the rub. Obama may not be voting, but voters are turning out in record numbers. In Tewksbury and Wilmington nearly 50 percent of voters showed up for the primary election, an enormously impressive number, particularly in light of recent years.

Anyone that has followed this column for the last couple of years knows how I loathe the apathetic voter. The demands on our time in this hectic world pull our collective attention away from the spending practices of school departments, the financial position of the town, and crumbling infrastructure. We are all content to leave it up to Superintendents, Assessors, Selectmen, and so on to watch over the business that so intricately affects our children, wallets, and property values, so we can practice our baser voyeurism following the Britneys, the Lindsays, and the other train wrecks of America’s youth. Or Roger Clemens’ bloody derriere.

We need to demand some accountability. Let us start with our Federal delegation. Other than the recently elected Representative Tsongas, who just visited the district two weeks ago in her Congress on your Corner program, I think some of these folks could stand to hear from you. Below find the district phone numbers for our elected officials. Give them a jingle and tell their staff what you really think. They pay attention, especially if enough people hold their feet to the fire.

Senator Edward Kennedy: (617) 565-3170;
Senator John Kerry: (617) 565-8519
Representative John Tierney: (978) 469-1942
Representative Niki Tsongas: (978) 459-0101

The White House Comment Line: (202)-456-1111