Wow, does anyone else feel like "Government of the People, By the people, For the People" exists??

[KansasVoter]

I feel like big business and special interests control everything at this point.

And the SCOTUS ruling today makes it much worse.

So many Americans are too uninformed to vote!

This country spends way more time discussing American Idol than they do discussing the future of this country.

They listen to their Pastor or Limbaugh or Beck to decide who to vote for.

Is it really depressing.

I hate to use the term "too dumb to vote" but for many, including the Tea Baggers, I think it is 100% true.

[villager]

1. When was the last time "government of the people" existed?

The 60's? Prior to the 80's? (Either 1980's, or 1880's, depending how you like your American history!)

[NorthCarolina]

6. I think Regan hearlded the end of Government for and by the People.

The DLC, having gained express control the Democratic Party during the Clinton era, completed the work Regan began by moving the Democrats away from being an advocate of the people, to a corporate friendly cash generating machine.

[harun]

8. The big decisions of this country have always been made by the super-rich. Only

reason we got some of the Social Services we do have is because they were competing with Communism and showing, "hey we can give the little people a few scraps too". With the defeat of communism it has been full on war against the have-nothing's in the U.S.A.

[thereismore]

2. It has been ruled unconstitutional 5:4, courtesy of Bush's appointments. Fuck. nt

Fixed spelling.

[uponit7771]

3. I'm going to go down fighting...and I'm not now where near tired.

[BeyondGeography]

4. Or has it ever existed

This is a robber baron Supreme Court ruling, straight out of the Gilded Age. And when we weren't handing gifts to corporations, states were devising funhouse tactics like the poll tax and the Australian ballot to keep nonwhites and the poor from voting. America has been a barfight against capital and property from the start, with progressive, enlightened interludes and victories few and far between.

[rockymountaindem]

5. Well, we've been through dark days before

During the old days people spent plenty of time ignoring reality (not a bad idea) by sitting in the movie theater all day, reading comic books etc. At the same time, hate-monger Father Coughlin's radio audience included about 1/3rd of the American population, avid fascist sympathizers held rallies that filled Madison Square Garden, and so on. I don't need to describe the crippling institutionalized racism, either. Yet, we managed to pull through alright behind leadership that actually cared about people and was willing to confront major corporate interests like the Hearsts and others. We have been through dark days before, but the thing that's missing today is the leadership to confront our challenges. Instead of a president who said "I welcome their hatred" in regard to the forces of greed and corporate domination, we have a leader who seems to think it is his job to make compromises with said people, groups, and corporations. That is the distressing part.

I wish we had a President who would take to the airwaves this afternoon and promise to work with the Congress to constitutionally restore limits to corporate participation in the campaign process. Sadly I don't think President Obama is going to grab they bull by the horns. That might make some people upset and he wouldn't like that :(

[LatteLibertine]

7. Yes

"I feel like big business and special interests control everything at this point." Is largely correct. There are politicians who want to change this and they are a distinct minority.

[Blue Owl]

9. Less and less

As the corporate-owned government expands, the less we as individuals will have a voice.

Corporations with lobbyists who give out chunky donations to the sold-out politicians are "the people" whom the government serves.