Change You Can Believe In

They are the old bulls of Congress. The first gentleman pictured is John Conyers, who has represented his Michigan district since 1965. The second is Robert Byrd, a United States senator representing West Virginia since 1959. And the last is John Dingell, who has represented a district adjacent to Conyers since 1955, succeeding his father, who had represented the district since 1933, meaning a 75 year unbroken succession of Dingells in Washington. They are the change that Barack Obama would like to bring to Washington.

They all have their specialties. Dingell and Conyers are experts at conducting star chamber investigations of political enemies. For many years Dingell was at the the helm of the House Engergy and Commerce Committee, where he essentially reserved the right to bully just about everyone who came across his path.

Conyers, his colleague, is now the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and has busied himself in recent years holding mock impeachments of President Bush, even though he himself had been found to have violated House ethics rules in 2006.

Byrd's primary claim to fame is his unmatched ability to steer pork-barrel projects to the state of West Virginia. Over 30 existing or pending federal projects bear his name.

No matter what you think of George W. Bush, one thing is certain - his presence in the Oval Office has greatly hampered the ability of these gentlemen to raid the public treasury, conduct sham investigations and reroute billions of dollars to their home states. If Barack Obama were serious about bringing change to Washington, he'd be talking about the depredations that careerist politicians of this sort have undertaken over their long, long careers. He isn't, of course.