What Is Up With This World?

Mark and I recently sent a blog note to Anderson Cooper of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360. He has been somewhat of a hero of mine since I began following his reporting during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He was not an ambush type reporter, but he had a way of leading our local politicians into a snare - one that we knew they should have been led into a long time ago. Both of us have followed him ever since. He has never struck me as a self-serving person and he certainly tempers his reports with common sense. We hope we get some sort of a response or at the very least, a published blog post. It went a little something like this:

Dear Mr. Cooper:

We are Louisiana residents and as such, we have been privy to the downside of dirty politics and corruption. We know that it can no longer be looked at as a joke, a way of life or with a "You gotta pay to play attitude." Both of us constantly ask, "Why the bailout?" Moreover, we want to know why no type of regulations or requirements were placed within the terms of the bailout plan. If one of our employees is performing poorly, including squandering of our company's funds or worse, do you think I am going to give that employee a giant bonus - and blindly give it to them? No, most definitely not. Certainly, the federal government has no requirement that it must give any funds to companies that have such a terrible track record of managing itself and its actions. Now that the porn industry is asking for a bailout, we believe that not only has this gone way too far, but it is showing that no one is taking our legislative body seriously. Our Senators and Representatives have a duty to us - the taxpayers and workers of this country - to act prudently and with resolve to help our economic situation; not contribute to its downfall. We want to know where our bailout is and how we can get in that proverbial line. You do not hear us bellyaching in front of Congress and if the truth is known, we are who should be standing in front of Congress asking for help. The working people/productive citizens of this country are whose backs it was built upon. The time has come for us, as Americans, to stand up and take action. Please let us know how we, real Americans who work, pay taxes and support out country, can go before Congress for a bailout. We have had enough. A bailout is probably the perfect term to use because in our opinion, criminal actions - or at the very least non-chalant, rogue executives - are to blame for the crisis.

*****I am sure that each and every one of you reading this post can agree - unless you are one of "them". Have a great evening.