It doesn’t have to be a conspiracy

Have you ever noticed that everything seems to be a conspiracy?  I wrote a blog about the politics of the Federal budget and I began by complimenting a journalist I usually criticize for being too soft or too partial.  Yesterday, I was impressed with Chris Wallace because I think he would've asked the same questions of a democrat.  I wrote a little about how Chris Wallace made his guest, Congressman Paul Ryan, uncomfortable and on the defensive.  I was immediately criticized for cherry picking but my emphasis was never on Congressman Paul Ryan.  I expected the congressman to use his talking points but I never expected Chris Wallace to call him on it.

A person cannot agree with another poster, or they are immediately linked to a cabal. Dwain Boehl's letter to the editor is a prime example of how a poster equates the word liberal with Nazis brown shirts, and anything else that is wrong with America. Another poster goes onto say that right wing conservatism is what made this country great.  I truly believe that these characters are using a tactic called " blowing out one's a candle to make theirs shine brighter." Do these posters actually believe that they are the chosen ones and the ideology, religion, and politics they have chosen are flawless?  Can someone be that naive?

There are times I wish I had the knowledge to question a $100,000 expenditure by our city, a controversial play, big name stores leaving the mall, motives of our city and county officials, or a recent story from police beat.  The recent school lock down should have been a topic for discussion but most of the comments were made before the facts were ever divulged.  It is my opinion, that the issues I mentioned are legitimate but the facts are limited.  I wish I knew if it was because of a lack of transparency, or that " there is no there there."

I went into my own conspiracy mode the other day; questioning the resignations of four key democrats and one republican.  As I was watching " Meet the Press" I couldn't help but wonder if David Gregory was setting up John Boehner for a future " gotcha moment." For the last few weeks, David Gregory has been asking if it was appropriate for leaders to control the fringe element in their party. John Boehner and Eric Cantor for not calling out the "birthers" or in his words " setting the record straight." Both republican leaders have said that is not in their job description.  But more to the point, I'm pretty sure  David Gregory knows about the rumors of John Boehner's extramarital affair. Yesterday, he leaned over and asked John Boehner about the conversation he had with Congressman Christopher lee before he departed, for acting in an ethical manner.  John Boehner  politely said those matters of private but the words that followed that statement might come to bite later on, because he said"The American people have the right, and should expect, the highest ethical standards from members of Congress." We might find out real soon because Republican congressman David Rivera is currently under criminal investigation in Florida. His mother’s consulting company received $510,000 in consulting fees from a dog racetrack, presumably in exchange for Rivera’s advocacy of legalizing slot machines. Rivera then received $132,000 in loans that he failed to disclose from the consulting company.

The congressman paid himself $60,000 in unitemized campaign reimbursements when a state legislator, misstated on financial disclosure forms from 2003 to 2009 that he had been paid to do freelance work for USAID (USAID has said that they never employed Rivera), and has been connected with allegations of domestic violence.

Read more:http://tinyurl.com/4mzf4yo

I guess we're all prone to conspiracy, rumors, and juicy gossip but don't let that be the basis for substantiated proof of wrongdoing.