Politics

You know, it is not enough that California, the state of fruits and nuts
as I like to call it, gave us bad spinach ( I am really harping on this
spinach thing as it is one of my husband's favorite veggies, and now
he and countless others are being deprived!), but now, a porn star is
running for governor. Apparently this is not the first time she has done
this, I thankfully missed it the other time. I mean, they already have
Ah-nold as their governor, the actor/body builder/Kennedy in-law.
To be honest, Ah-nold has done better than anyone expected. But now
a porn star wants to unseat him. Reminds me of a time when I was little,
not sure if I was in elementary or junior high, when there was a porn
star elected to the Italian parliament. Her name was Ciccolina, a blonde
Hungarian born porn star who had become famous in Italy, especially
for exposing her chest area (she was apparently very healthy!). She had
been put on the ballot basically as a joke, for the so-called 'Love' political
party if I am not mistaken. Anyway, to make a long story short, she won
a seat. On her first day in parliament, she arrived in a horse drawn
carraige, with feathers and snakes and gauzy materials and men all
strewn about. She, of course, was practically in a state of undress, and
upon taking her seat inside, called all the male members of parliament
'porchi', the Italian word for pigs! Thankfully, as the Italian multi-party
system of the time did not allow for many long-term governments, the
various coalitions would always fracture, so Ciccolina's time in office
was short-lived. But it is still a chapter 'fondly' remembered, more than
20 years later, by her fans! So now this chick in Cali is trying to make
history repeat itself, but I have news for her, there is and was only one
Ciccolina (thank goodness)! I mean, politics have never been free of
scandal (one reason I love following it so much!); there is evidence
that even some of the Founding Fathers were involved in some kind
of scandal. Then there was Lincoln and his less than mentally stable
wife, U.S. Grant and his rather unsober presidency, and Warren
Harding and his extortion cronies. Then of course we come to more
modern times - Kennedy, Clinton, and their antics with the ladies,
Reagan and whispers that his wife followed astrology, and the drug
rumors swirling around in the past about the current president. So
scandal is part of politics, one way or another. Scandal also can make
havoc on ambitions. Jerry Brown of California was unable to run for
president due to rumors of his 'preference' after he visited gay bars in
D.C.. Gary Hart was ruined by his little 'loveboat' escapade. And the
most famous case of all, Edward Kennedy and the Chappaquiddick
incident, the first and foremost reason why he never became
president as everyone thought he would be one day after the tragic
deaths of both of his brothers. Reminds me of a joke that I heard
soon after the Dick Cheney hunt and shoot incident several months
ago. It was circulated by republicans naturally - I would rather go
hunting with Dick Cheney than go on a drive with Ted Kennedy!