In the hilarious film “Blazing Saddles,” when Hedley Lamarr folds his hands on his desk, looks into the camera and says “Why am I asking you” to the viewing audience it is a positively delicious scene that never fails to remind me of every politician that ever took a breath. There is not a one of the present contenders for office that look into the cameras and their only thought concerning We the People, the Great Unwashed, is “Why am I asking you” utterly devoid of the comic intent of Hedley. We all know politicians care nothing for asking We the People about anything; their only concern and allegiance is to themselves, of being elected and staying elected.

It was a tender scene in “Gone With The Wind” where Rhett tries to console Scarlett as she weeps over her transgressions and expresses her fear of God’s eternal and fiery judgment by suggesting “maybe there isn’t any hell.” But then he turns around and accuses her of being like the thief that does not repent of the crime, but is only sorry he has been caught. I won’t second guess Margaret Mitchell, but every time I think of this I feel compassion for Scarlett. The teachings of childhood are not easily dismissed, and I want to give Scarlett credit for having a conscience though Rhett may have been correct in his accusation.

However, conscience is admittedly an unwieldy and often unreliable thing to carry around. When I read Thoreau asking that we should have a society where the conscience rules I find myself saying “He couldn’t have been serious!” One person’s conscience may be the death sentence pronounced against another person that does not agree. We read in the Bible that we are to “nurture a tender conscience.” But this presumes the kind of conscience in which the Golden Rule, not the rules of any individual, church or government passes judgment. In too many cases what is called “conscience” is nothing more than passion, and at that point Prince Faisel in the film “Lawrence of Arabia” is quite correct in emphasizing good manners trumps passion as the more reliable.

When it comes to government agencies of every kind at every level including the universities and their product schools, the cloak of “anonymity and confidentiality” is used as the resort of scoundrels. What is Caesar Bush’s continued hiding behind “Executive Privilege” but a means of hiding his crimes against humanity? In my opinion were the crimes of Caesar and his cronies revealed to the world an immediate Nuremberg Tribunal for these conscienceless criminals would be demanded and held forthwith! But if a society cannot even come to agreement over some football player engaging in the conscienceless “sport” of fighting and torturing dogs how is such a society to come to agreement in prosecuting Caesar Bush and Company? Here in America agreement cannot even be found when it comes to protecting children from the monsters preying on them!

But in matters of conscience devoid of mindless passion of course if the sons and daughters of Caesar Bush and those in Congress were being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan the wars would cease immediately, our troops would be withdrawn and put in place properly securing our own borders. And no one possessed of any degree of intelligence fails to realize that if illegal aliens were killing the “right” people among the wealthy and politicians our borders would be secured, “sanctuary” cities like Los Angeles and entire counties like Kern here in California would begin checking immigration status when crimes are committed, and immigration laws already on the books would be enforced, thereby solving the problem of the invasion of America by millions of illegal aliens.

In the meantime, this only remains wishful thinking since those on the Devil’s payroll like politicians and their corporate masters profit by the drug trade, human smuggling, the slave labor resulting from the invasion of America of Mexicans by the millions, and until that terrorist nuclear bomb goes off at LAX or DC this will continue. The loved ones of the rich and powerful, of politicians are not placed in harm’s way, and an evil system that continues to reward those on the Devil’s payroll continues to do business as usual by extorting We the People through taxation without representation to pay for this evil system that rewards those without conscience by any definition, the biggest crooks and the most corrupt that have gained power by their corruption and lack of conscience, social or otherwise.

Whether of conscience or simply good manners, America cannot possibly survive a failure to hold leaders to account for their crimes, especially crimes against humanity. And a nation that cannot come to agreement concerning what constitutes torture against either dogs or children in my opinion does not have a future and does not deserve to survive. If we pause to consider other nations like Arabia, Mexico, China, and Russia have leaders acting in the best interest of these nations at our expense while we have leaders dedicated only to the personal power and wealth for a few holding power all the while acting against the best interests of America we are fast reaching the point of a self-fulfilling “prophecy” of destruction. And when I look at those being offered as “choices” for leadership should Caesar Bush survive to leave office I can only think of the worst happening for our nation. To know the record of any of them, to listen to any of them is to know their pledge of allegiance is to themselves, not America.