A lot of food for thought in this article.

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It’s a Free Country! ... Or Is It?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7950634/
It%27s%20a%20free%20country.pdf

excerpt:

And thus, a politician’s livelihood relies on his wrestling talents; his strength and ability to

enter the pork scrambles like rugby scrums and come away with enough bacon to purchase

support and favors, to leverage compromises, and to provide negotiating capital for dealmaking.

Once again, these arrogant officials aren't at all concerned with how their jostling

and dirtying of one another in heated battle over the available spoils appears. Their foremost

concern is protecting their careers. Political survival rests upon bringing home the bacon and

they will do whatever it takes to get their share - and then some. In point of fact, one key

reason incumbents get re-elected in such overwhelming majority (even with multiple scandals

hanging over them) is that they have access to the pork pile - and their challengers don't.

This is the primary factor in the phenomenon of a career politician easily winning re-election

after re-election even though everyone knows he is a lying, cheating scoundrel and criminal.