Fw: Who lives in a house like this??

I know that we all receive this type of message every day. I received this from a friend today. It was about Robert Mugabe, the tyrant of Zimbabwe. It compared the opulence of his palace compared to the squalor that his people experience. Normally, I read these things and sometimes pass them on to others. Tonight, I was suffering from snow stress, so I responded to the friend who sent it. Here's my response:

Dear *******,

Interesting, BUT this is probably typical of many Third World countries. Leaving the Third World, we need look no further than the billions that we have squandered rebuilding Iraq where Hussein had multiple palaces. How about Mexico, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Cuba?? What about North Korea, where people starve while they build a bigger army? The ruling class in the old USSR lived lavishly while the lower classes died by the millions to allow them to stay in power. There's a great scene in the movie Enemy at the Gates where Kruschev explains to a young political officer in the Soviet Army how the ruling class has caviar and vodka because they have convinced the other schmucks that they need to die for Mother Russia.

One of my favorite Kruschev quotes is: "We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism." It's the old "How do you cook a bullfrog?" story. If you don't know that one, ask me sometime.

While I find the actions of Third World tyrants deplorable, we should turn the mirror on ourselves and examine how our leaders live in comparison to the majority of the country. Been to the office of a Senator? Seen Air Force One?? Toured the White House?? How about that convoy of vehicles that it requires to take Obama to play basketball? I am not suggesting that our leaders live in tents and travel trailers, but the reality is that the political leadership has lost touch with the reality of daily life in America. They govern the country in a fashion designed to keep them in power. "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Instead of foreign aid cash, let's ship supplies needed for revolution to Zimbabwe. Ship them some rifles and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Even a Democrat could figure it out from there. If it works in Zimbabwe, maybe we should give it another shot here.

Sorry *******, I guess that there's a little repressed anger here. Thanks for listening. Probably should have just blogged this one.

Gilbert