As I previously mentioned, many years ago, I worked for a trucking company.  On that job, I had an opportunity to interact with a number of Teamsters, from whom I was treated to the wisdom of true philosophers, unburdened by the shackles of higher (and sometimes even elementary) education.  I’m not mocking these men, for many of them imparted to me valuable insights which have served me well over the years.  Not all their insights were of positive, of course.  Working nights while I was in college and law school, I often read a book at lunch time, which invariably provoked the same question from junior philosopher Joe Palmer, “Is that a dirty book?”  It wasn’t.  Senior philosopher “Lefty’s” contributions were more useful.  Expounding on the subject of taking care not to cast one’s coworkers in an unflattering light, he proclaimed, “When you work with Lefty you work slow.  Nobody kills fuckin’ Lefty!”  Which was good advice, because should a casual employee such as myself make one of the oldtimers look bad by moving too fast, and should the youngster fail to heed the warning, “What, are you trying to kill this job?,” the problem might be corrected by the “accidental” dropping of a heavy steel plate on the offender’s foot (“Sorry kid, it slipped”), which would ensure that the offender  slowed to the prescribed pace.  The philosopher king of Branch Motors Express, however was the union shop steward, aptly named, “Spike.”  Now, as shop steward, Spike earned top pay, including overtime, but he was not expected to, nor did I ever see him do any actual work.  He was there to handle any union grievances the men might have, holding court in the locker room, ensconced in a chair next to the coffee urn.  I was sitting at the foot of Spike’s throne one night in the distant past, when I gained from him a bit of wisdom, the truth of which has time and time again been proven.  Commenting on the latest controversy on the job, Spike uttered words I never have forgotten, “Everything here is under the hat.” In Teamster patois, “under the hat” meant something was crooked, or the fix was in.  The best example I can think of is from Godfather II.  The young Vito Corleone delivers pay off money to the old gangster, who covers the money with his hat.  He’s covering up wrongdoing.  Hence, a crooked deal is “under the hat.”  Since that time, it repeatedly has occurred to me that the bulk of our society is under the hat.  That means that those who wield the levers of power, the establishment if you will, are crooked.  The fix, most assuredly, is in.  I live in New Jersey, a State which always has been under the hat.  There are three ways to get ahead in New Jersey; inherit wealth, know somebody, or pay somebody.  If you look at the list of legislators and judges in New Jersey, then do some historical research, you will find the same names for people in positions of authority as far back as you look.  Take my Congressman, for example.  Rodney Frelinghuysen is a fine representative, who has served in the House for 17 years.  His father was in the House of Representatives for 22 years.  His relatives include 4 U.S. Senators.  His great-great grandfather was New Jersey Attorney General, U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of State, and President of Rutgers University.  His great-great uncle Theodore was a Senator and a vice-presidential candidate.  His distant ancestor Frederick was a Revolutionary War soldier, and one of the framers of the first New Jersey State Constitution.  When you have towns and streets named after you, you’ve been around a long time.  The federal government is equally under the hat.  The 50 States continually send the landed gentry to Washington to populate both Parties.  And they never leave.  Over 95% of them get reelected, so the only way to get rid of them is via death or conviction.  These are the Swamp Things that Trump is trying to flush down the drain.  They won’t go quietly, and these days, the entrenched politicians in Washington have abandoned even the pretense that they are public servants; that we voters are the bosses, and they’re only working for us. Clearly, they’re not.  Indeed, they have made it clear that elections don’t even matter anymore, so there’s no need to listen to mere voters.  And nowhere is this more evident than in the Republican Party.  When Democrats controlled the presidency and both Houses of Congress, Republicans said there was nothing they could do.  When they took over the House of Representatives, they made the same excuse.  The House talked a good game, voting 54 times to repeal Obamacare.  With both the House and the Senate, Republicans were powerless due to Obama’s threatened veto.  Now, with a Republican President, House and Senate, guess what?  They’re still powerless to undo the progressive agenda.  The Senate filibuster rule prevents us from a complete repeal, you see.  Well, how about 50 votes to get something, no matter how minor changed?  Sorry, we can’t even muster 50 votes to pass some sham bill that pretends to make changes.  The U.S. Senate is the greatest deliberative body in the world, my ass.  This wouldn’t be so bad if the Senators at least were honest about their positions.  I mean, Bernie Sanders may be nuts, but he tells you what he believes.  Not Republicans.  Linda Murkowski comes from Alaska, which is a State under a heavy woolen hat.  Her father Frank was U.S. Senator, left the Senate, and became Governor, just in time to appoint Linda to the Senate.  When she ran for election in 2010, she lost the Republican primary to conservative Joe Miller, but Alaska is under such a tight fitting hat that she ran as a write-in candidate and won the election, or so her relatives reported when they counted the votes.  In 2015 she voted to repeal Obamacare.  In 2016, she promised its full repeal.   When her vote counted last week, with a President itching to sign a repeal, she voted “No.”  Liar!  John McCain had a hard campaign in 2016.  He won only because he vowed to repeal Obamacare.  Last week he cast the vote that kept it alive.  Liar! (More about him next week).  These politicians lie with impunity because they long ago recognized that Spike was right.  Everything is under the hat.