The Ruling Class

You know the old saying, "Power corrupts, Absolute power corrupts absolutely"? When I think of this I tend to visualize Adolf Hitler, Napoleon, or Stalin. I suppose you could add Richard Nixon's somewhat milder corruption to that list, along with the abuses of power enjoyed by Bush the Lesser. Even Clinton's sexual shenanigans represent a variation of that reprehensible theme.

But would you think of Senator Jim Bunning?

Under normal circumstances, the vast majority of Americans would never hear about Senator Bunning until they read his obituary. And his death would only make headlines because in his earlier life he was a star baseball player in the major leagues. However, the Senator deserves, along with too many of his fellow legislators, our closer scrutiny.

As it is, we tend to elect and then trust our representatives to do right by us. We do our duty by voting, and then tune out and let them get on with it. We register what we hear or read in the news about them, but largely we don't know or really care until it's time to vote again.

And that is a dangerous pattern. Because while we aren't looking, our representatives are conscripting the ship of state as their own luxury yacht. Our ostensible 'public servants' become the Captain and Crew, and we 'ordinary citizens' are stuck in windowless steerage, fed in the dark with the dregs of the privileged, while they dine in light and luxury.

Okay. Perhaps I am overstating this - a bit. Congress isn't all corrupt. And the corruption isn't usually the vivid kind seen in television and movie plots, with kickbacks, bribes, and off-shore accounts. And no one has presented evidence that Senator Bunning has done anything more than use his power in the senate to hold up legislation.

But that is precisely the problem: the abuse of power isn't always obvious. Bunning's misuse only came to our attention because it was holding up a bill to extend unemployment benefits - an irresponsible action even the most rabid conservative news outlets couldn't excuse. Everyday, under the radar, similar actions with less obvious consequences are undertaken, and no reporter reports them, no cable news broadcasts them.

Anyone who witnessed Jim Bunning's imperious behavior on the news, however, got a glimpse of an attitude held by himself and too many of his colleagues: the attitude that they are the rulers, not the servants. It's the same attitude that makes CEOs of corporations believe they and their senior management are the corporation, and the thousands of people under them that run the company are merely 'resources', to be used and discarded as necessary.

In Congress, this belief works to remove the governors from the opinions and needs of the governed. It lets them live in an alternate world where personal power and party influence are the preeminent concerns, and the requirements of the people an afterthought.

Let's allow this brief glimpse into abuse of congressional power, given us courtesy of Senator Jim Bunning, to serve as a warning and a wake-up call. Let it serve as a reminder to keep watching after we vote.