"Politics as Crime"; A mash up that applies to Greensboro City Council Elections

"Neither American political party, [in this case Robbie Perkins and Nancy Vaughan], is worth supporting.

Each has interests inconsistent with those of the public. The claimed political differences are mostly cosmetic, designed for marketing advantage. Both act in their self interest which does not coincide with that of the citizens or the well-being of [the City of Greensboro]

[Both belong to Greensboro Country Club.  Both voted to give fellow Country Club member and Kay Hagan's brother in law David Hagan $586,000.  Both have no problem with Matt Brown spending less than 100% of his time working for Greensboro after giving him a $50,000 raise.  Both are/were in Roy Carroll's pocket.  Both have voted everyone else's money to their friends on multiples of occasions.] 

Each behaves like a self-serving criminal. The quaint concept of serving the public exists no longer.

Routinely they exempt themselves from the rules and laws they impose on the rest of us.

Their policies enrich the political class while the rest of [Greensboro] becomes poorer.

One sees no way to differentiate the activities of [Greensboro's City Council], administrators and beneficiaries from those of a professional-criminal class.

Sacrifice and service have been displaced with the opportunity for personal spoils.

The motivation subtly changed from service to the accumulation of wealth.

[Robbie in real estate and Nancy Vaughan via Don's cut Cone Mills' free methane, which has apparently totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars, as confirmed by two different sources]

Today, politics is considered a lucrative career choice, not service to one’s city.

...Criminal activity always promises higher returns than legal activity, especially for the less talented.

This form of monopoly profit always attracts the most ruthless.

Monopoly profits now are possible for the ruthless who enter public office. Furthermore, as lawmakers their risk of being prosecuted for wrongdoing is reduced.

Is it any surprise that we have the motley cast of political leaders currently vying for dominance?

Once the potential for excess returns was added to politics, morality and ethics were displaced with the “whatever it takes” approach of organized crime.

Today’s politicians abide by the same ethics and morality that characterized the old-time bootleggers.

In two respects dealing with bootleggers was more satisfying:
◾Dealing with a bootlegger was a voluntary transaction.
◾If you chose to, you presumably received a useful product in return.

The concept of political service has been replaced by that of masked exploitation. The public is no longer viewed as clients or constituents to be served. Instead they have become political prey. Politicians see the public as a collection of wallets and votes, fair game to be hunted as the means to expand power and wealth.

Constituents are now the Soylent Green of the political food chain.

The political class assumes the public exists to serve them, not the other way around. Public participation beyond the lightening of wallets or the provision of votes is unwelcome. It is considered “interference” that must be deterred by the ruling class.

The political class is now a huge, voracious parasite. Like the plant in the Little Shop of Horrors, its needs have grown to the point where it threatens anything productive. Its needs now exceed the willingness for continued sacrifice on the part of the productive. The parasite threatens the very existence of the host.

http://www.economicnoise.com/2013/10/08/helping-hurting/
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And the News & Record, Rhino and Yes Weekly have no problem with it.