| Chris: | This makes democracy sound like an auction. |
| Tim: | It is. Politicians are always selling out to the highest bidder. |
| Sam: | Isn't that a lame generalization? Aren't politicians supposed to have integrity? |
| Ted: | What folks call 'integrity' generally means an inadequate price. |
| Sam: | But some principles aren't for sale. |
| Ted: | Maybe so, but politicians are eminent realists. And in the real world, every transaction has a price. |
| Kris: | God is the highest bidder in any transaction. If we forget His Voice, we're damned. |
| Chris: | Yep! Save yer sermons til Sundays . . . |
|
$enator for $ale
Need ta get some military hardware purchased?
Worried about a bureaucratic jam?
Want some peace activists silenced?
Hey, your friendly senator is at hand!
Wine me and dine me –
Put some money on my plate.
I'm available to the highest bidder
so tell me what's on your slate.
Pollution laws seem troubling?
Consumer groups annoying you?
Looking fer sum new tax exemptions?
Foreign competition makin' yah blue?
For the right price, I can solve such problems
as long as you play the game:
scratch my back and I'll return the favor –
both of us have so much to gain!
Hear the author read this poem.
