The notion that the government is just a manifestation of ourselves is both quaint and naive. That again points to my discussion of theoretical verses practical.

Government consists both of elected officials and non-elected employees. The elected officials are nominally responsive to the public but the non-elected employees aren't. Due in part to civil service regulations and partly due to unionization, it's very difficult to hold public employees accountable for their actions. When was the last time you heard of one of them being fired, fined, or prosecuted for exceeding their authority to the point of breaking the law?

As an example, one of my students recently recounted an incident where his wife was involved in a traffic incident with an off duty cop. It was easily provable that the cop was at fault because he hit her from the rear as she was stopped for a traffic light. There were several witnesses to this event. Still, the cop that responded to the accident wrote up the blame belonging to the wife. When they challenged this in court, both cops lied under oath. This was proven in court, the judge did give them a "stern lecture", but they kept their jobs despite breaking the law. This is but one example. It isn't hard to come up with many more.

Magnify this among all those thousands of government entities and you'll begin to get a glimpse of the fundamental corruption that makes up government. Ivory Tower lectures don't change the reality of the world; they just go to show how out of touch you are with reality.

There are two sides a crooked transaction like the airport example - the businessman offering the bribe (campaign contribution) and the official who accepts it. Campaign contributions are still legal, both to give and to receive. The businessman giving the donation has broken no law, and technically speaking, neither has the elected official. The laws, even the one passed by the House last night, do nothing to stop this activity. Still, the use of government power to rob one person to enrich another is a form of corruption.

I do blame the government for the corruption because government makes the laws, enforces the laws, and ignores the laws with it suits its purposes. Why do you exempt government from being corrupt?

Government makes the rules then ignores them at their convenience. Just last night, the House of Representatives undermined the First Amendment by restricting the ability of interests to get their message out before an election. What part of “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” don’t they understand?

Despite my cynicism, I still vote in every election including the primaries. In the end, it really doesn't change things very much. The corruption will continue regardless.