OK, movie trivia buffs – from what movie does the title of this blog come? If you said Animal House, (1978) you are correct. The scene is an outrageously funny spoof of a fraternity initiation. In a secretive, candle-lit, quasi-sado/masochistic ceremony, gleefully sinister hooded frat boys take sensual delight in whacking the backsides of the “whitey/tighty”-clad pledges who must cry out, “Thank you sir. May I have another?” each time they are smacked with a wooden paddle.
It struck me this scene is a perfect metaphor for the relationship between American citizens (the pledges) and the United States Congress (the frat boys). The latest wallop to our collective backsides? The recent revelations regarding unethical and quite possibly illegal real estate dealings of the “honorable” Charles Rangel, Congressman, 15th Congressional District, New York.
According to Thomas Lifson, at American Thinker:
Charles Rangel, a man who writes federal tax laws as head of the House Ways and Means Committee, not only failed to pay taxes on income he received from a luxury resort property he owns, he financed the purchase with an interest-free loan from a campaign backer who is also a politically active lawyer.
To read the complete article, go to: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/09/the_rangel_scandal_deepens.html
And, of course Speaker of the House Pelosi will do everything she can to hide, obfuscate, and delay any investigation until after the November election. The other frat boys and girls, (Congressional members of the same party) will circle the wagons in order to protect one of their own. The Mainstream Media shills will bury the story as long as possible – heck, we might even get some cries of “racism”, because ol’ Charlie happens to be black. And We The People will respond once again in enthusiastic unison, “Thank you, sir. May I have another?”
When are we going to get up off our proverbial hands and knees? When do we collectively put our pants back on, snatch the paddle from their hands and decide to offer up an equally famous quote from another movie, “I’m mad as Hell and I’m not going to take it any more!” (Peter Finch in the 1976 movie, Network)?
We CAN say that very thing, if we possess the collective will. We CAN do something about it, if and when we decide we’ve had enough. We don’t have to keep getting paddled by a seemingly endless parade of the corrupt, greedy, and hypocritical from both sides of the aisle that populate the halls of Congress. We The People can go to the ballot box. We The People can vote out EVERY incumbent. There’s one action that might just send a message.
Or we can all bend over, grab our ankles and wait for our corporal cue to utter the Animal House line once again…and again and again and again and………….
Tags: Charles Rangel, Congress, corruption
