Lawyers – Scourge of the Earth

Remember the 2004 campaign? In fact, on my street the other day, I saw a bumper sticker that read, "Health Insurance Too Expensive? Blame John Edwards". Oh yeah, in the dreamworld of the GOP, lawyers fall somewhere between child molesters and homos – I'll leave it to you to figure out which is higher on the list.

Well, Salon's War Room catches an interesting point whilst discussing Tom DeLay's impending departure (I can't stop smiling today).

As the Washington Post points out, under federal election law, DeLay is allowed to convert the money in his reelection coffers into money for lawyers. "Election lawyers say one advantage of bowing out of the election now is that the campaign cash can be converted to pay legal bills immediately, instead of being drained in the course of a bid to stay in office," the paper says. (Why, one wonders, would such a law exist? Lawmakers and regulators sure do think about all the contingencies when drawing up finance rules.)

Think about that for a minute. Let's say for a moment that you are so naïve and uninformed that you actually think Tom DeLay (or any politician who would utilize this law) isn't a dishonest, corrupt, cheating liar. Let's say that you honestly felt that he was good for the country. Say you decided to give him $20 or $100 or $2000 of your hard-earned money. Then it comes out that your politician is in fact, a crook. Now you have to pay to help him get out of the trouble he caused while purporting to be working for you? That is such bullshit! He should be forced to hand back every single one of his donations in person while offering a unique apology to each and every donor.

Reading about Congress is like being a weak-stomached medical student. The more you learn, the sicker you get.