Politics: The Big Sleezy

The picture above (click to enlarge) is of the House of Lords. This is the "upper " house of the British Parliament. The "lower" house is that of the Commons. The House of Lords is populated by Bishops, Aristocrats, and Political Appointees. When a politician is no longer capable of keeping a seat in the "commons", his party can nominate him to the "lords". There they can exert influence till they die. The one thing that they all have in common is that they are members of this house for life. In some cases, like the aristocrats, they are members from birth to death, and their heirs will follow. Born to rule.

There is a bit of a scandal brewing in Britain at the moment that has the ruling party, Labour, spinning out of control. It seems that they have been accused of secretly accepting undeclared loans, and offering the generous souls who have given them this money (around £14,000,000) seats in the upper house. Sort of a reward for services rendered. Of course the Labour Party leaders are quick to deny that the money was at all influential in selecting these donors, and lenders, for these exalted positions in the governing of this sceptered isle.


I guess corruption, especially the political variety, is not exclusive to any particular society. The recent events surrounding Mr. Abrahamoff and his money-ladened influence on the American political system is just another example of creative use of money to ensure desired results. In politics money is power. The politicians need to spend it to win elections. This was the use that Tony Blair assures the British taxpayers the "loaned" money was put to. The fact that niether the chairman or the treasurer of the party knew anything about this money is mere oversight. Mr. Blair denies any notion that this money amounted to a "slush fund". Right.

The thing that really gets me about these people is that they write the rules and then feel completely free to ignore, bend, or even break them. I believe that they are utterly incapable of even conceiving that they can do any wrong.

Maybe they can't.