OUR Cynicism is Why There’s NO Accountability

By Brooks Parola. Purple Walrus Press.

I’m going to sound REALLY cynical here, but as bad as I may sound, it won’t come close to the cynicism of the American electorate that ALLOWS the leaders of this country to get away with crimes and unethical behavior that would NEVER have been allowed for them to hold political office, and/or be impeached and jailed just a few years ago.

So, we got to see from Trump’s tax returns how outrageously our tax system favors the wealthy in this country...does anyone care? I’d argue that not only do they NOT care, but I’d be willing to bet that a large portion of the voting populace thinks the wealthy are entitled to it! Why else would they go ahead and vote for Trump, when he essentially admitted during the campaign that he didn’t pay taxes? Now, clearly he did...at least in 2005. But, what is also clear, is that even Trump; that’s right, completely arrogant and shameless Trump, had enough “shame” (if you can call it that) to allow Hillary and others to claim that he’d paid none at all, since he knew the reality was shockingly small...and his 2005 returns bear that out.

And that brings me back to may original point: Does it even matter? Will it even matter if we see his full returns? Will it even matter if those returns show ties to the Russian oligarchs, to Vladimir Putin, to the Chinese government, and/or banks working with him in illegal or ethically reprehensible deals? If they show he’s making money off of being president, if they show any conflict of interest, or that he might be susceptible to blackmail or bribery...will any of it matter? Or will large numbers of this voting populace continue to give him a pass because he’s wealthy and because they think his wealth entitles him to do what he wants?

Folks, we MUST be the ones to bring this man down. But we can only do that when we rediscover what it means to be respectful of ethics and standards, and demand them of our leaders, and hold them accountable.

Brooks Parola. PWP.