A movie premiered the weekend of April 29, 2006, based on the acts of the heroic passengers of Flight 93, who died fighting to save our nation’s capitol from being destroyed by terrorists on September 11, 2001. Since they all died causing the plane to be crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside, rather than into the capitol building, or the White House, we can’t know specifically who the heroes were, but this writer has no hesitancy in assuming that they all participated.

        My problem is with the recipients of the gift. Every news cycle, we are reminded of the cynicism, corruption, greed and arrogance of our “honorables” inside the beltway, and in capitols and boardrooms all over the world. One would think that 9/11 would give our public officials, representatives and corporate leaders pause, to consider the providence that protected them and made them rich, but apparently not. They seem to be mere reflections of the dearth of values that now prevail in our society.

        Only the other day, an officer at my bank seemed incredulous that I would forgo the high returns of oil stocks in favor of the niggardly interest rates paid on savings accounts by her bank (as opposed to the obscene interest rates that same bank charges on credit card balances). When I  said that I refused to make money from the exploitation of the poor and helpless, she seemed puzzled that anyone would make moral distinctions in their investments. As I turned to leave, I responded, “We must not go to the same church,” wondering if she would have willingly sacrificed anything, much less her life, to save someone else, or to save the capitol building.  I can still remember the different philosophy of bankers before Reagan's deregulation, when your banker was your neighbor and went to the same church you did.  Now bankers are ivory tower aristocrats who view their victims, like most Republicans do, as people deserving to be exploited.

        Just the other day, in an interview shown on several television networks, Rex W. Tillerson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation said that his company was in the business of making money, as if huge multi-national corporations had no social responsibility at all, at the same time that Kenneth Lay, former chairman of Enron, was testifying in court that he had done nothing wrong..

        So I am left to ponder about our young soldiers in Iraq, who risk dying or suffering grievous wounds as they carry out the callous policies of those who sent them there; about the victims of 9/11; about the lack of any action to save the black African victims of genocide in the Darfur of Sudan; about the victims of Hurricane Katrina who are still trying to get their first help from a complacent and incompetent government, while a new hurricane season approaches; and about every day citizens in “advanced” democracies around the world. It is hard to remember that there really are heroes, sacrificing for the good of mankind, people like Mother Teresa, Angelina Jollie and former senator George Mitchell.

        It seems that the “good guys” are too often merely dupes, suckers being exploited by the rich and powerful. Frankly, I can’t think of a single current politician, judge or corporate executive who has demonstrated that they have a soul, or who is worth the powder it would take to blow them to hell, much less one worth giving my life for. They are all about greed, hunger for power and vanity,  their primary values.

        And in the same news cycle as the premier of "Flight 93," Democrat Phil Bredesen, Governor of Tennessee, commenting on a bill currently before the Legislature, announced that he did not favor reducing the state sales tax on food and replacing it with an increase in the tobacco tax. He said he thought any new revenue should go toward health care. I suppose it is understandable that our Governor, having made a huge fortune in health care, as did our senator, Bill Frist, would prefer that new revenue would accrue to the medical industry, and to his own stock portfolio, rather than to the poor, who are suffering from the increase in the cost of groceries brought on by the greed of the oil industry.  But only four months ago, Medical industry lobbyists were able to engineer the theft of literally half of my annual Social Security cost of living increase by bribing Congress to increase the Medicare premium deducted from my check. 

        So, today, May 6, the day after I had posted this editorial and had e-mailed every Democrat in state government to say that the governor had betrayed us, Bredesen stated to the press that he  did favor lowering the sales tax on food, but that increasing the tax on tobacco was regressive and would yield less revenue than the sales tax reduction would consume, proving, once again, that politicians are much better at posturing than they are at problem solving.  Phil, we heard you the first time.  You claim to be a Democrat.  Well, listen carefully.  In times of crisis, Democrats stand up for the people.  We are in a crisis.  The rich have had their tax cut.  The disparity between rich and poor in this state is increasing at an accelerating rate. The poor and helpless have been bled dry by increasing costs of gasoline and food to the point that we are hungry and immobile.  We expect you to fix it.  Stop talking about the problem, find a way and fix it.  That's what Democrats do.

        At least its clear that he heard my complaint.  I suppose that's something.  But its going to take a hell of a lot more than that to get my vote.