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Edited on Tue Jan-05-10 01:24 PM by yankee2
It has been MHO for quite some time now that Dick Cheney is in fact a traitor to America and all Americans. But I must go further. I think that MOST American politicians are traitors to their country. Let me explain why I say that.
In America, our leaders are elected by the people, right? WRONG! That is only true if the system gives us real choices. First of all, virtually every single candidate for political office must be vetted by a political party, and every (both!) major political party is packed with "leaders" who have also been through the system, which supports ONLY those seekers of office who have demonstrated at least one essential quality: they must be Capitalists first and foremost. How does it do that? It simply refuses to endorse any candidate which doesn't pass muster, and those who don't pass muster do not receive sufficient (read: corporate) funds to campaign effectively. By making campaigning a multi-million dollar operation, Capitalism ensures that ONLY those candidates it supports out of its very rich bank accounts stands a chance of success. The only ones who can pass this hurdle otherwise are the independently rich, who can pay their own campaign bills, however, they are already dedicated fans of the system that made them rich. And if any successful candidate ever goes AGAINST Capitalism, in any significant way, he/she knows with absolute clarity that the funds will dry up instantly, along with his political career. The upshot is that only those candidates who support and defend Capitalism, with their political lives if necessary, ever get to hold or keep any significant office.
Does that sound democratic? We get to vote for our leaders, surely enough, but our choices are severely limited to only one political stripe: Capitalists. And if we decide we'd like a Socialist, or even a Libertarian or Green Party candidate? We are totally out of luck in the first case, and practically so in the others. We DO NOT have any REAL choice! Our only choices are always between two candidates which the system has ensured share IDENTICAL VIEWS on one subject at least. Capitalism has utterly failed the common American citizen. His/her taxes have gone to and continue to be used mostly to support Capitalist interests. Even right now, while Capitalists regularly complain about and oppose Social Welfare, they have accepted and continue to accept larger sums (than are spent on Social Welfare) in Corporate Welfare! You see, their objections are not to welfare per se, they are only to who gets it. And the vast majority of Americans are NOT on that list!
Have we all not noticed recently that even our most liberal "leaders," including many Democrats and even the President himself, after being elected on liberal and leftist platforms, virtually always change their positions (overtly or covertly), under the influence of other Capitalist loyalists and lobbyists, and wind up supporting Capitalist private interests ahead of those of the American People? Such has been the case with our Congress, which refused to vote for any health care package which recognized and supported the needs of ordinary Americans, and which did not promote Capitalist interests first and foremost. Any "gifts" to the American people were strictly prohibited (but not so gifts to the Owning Class)! During the long period during which this "reform" was being debated, both the Congress AND the President spoke to thousands of lobbyists and executives for the health care industry. Does anyone know of a single representative of Working and Middle Class interests who met with Mr. Obama, or any Congressman for that matter? I do not! I think that who a political leader talks to is who she REALLY supports, and the ONLY people these "leaders" ever talk to are dedicated Capitalists. Does THAT sound like democracy?
On the contrary, THAT undermines democracy, absolutely!
The ONLY cure I know of must be strong, effective campaign reform. ONLY by completely eliminating corporate campaign contributions will Americans ever own and run America again. Campaigns should be limited to, perhaps, the print and radio media, in order to reduce costs, and to eliminate as much as possible marketing, propaganda and personality as factors in elections. Perhaps debates, which must include all candidates from every party, could be televised. All campaign funds should be provided, equally to each candidate, who must provide a certain number of petition signatures to get on a ballot, by the government. And last but not least, no political office holder would be permitted to accept any gifts, say over $20 or $50 in value, from ANY corporate entity, or from anyone else for that matter. Perhaps then, America would once again be run for and by Americans, NOT, as usual today, by and for corporate and private special interests. Perhaps then, Americans would begin to get a fair share in benefits of what we pay in taxes.
Does it make you nervous to talk in terms of Working, Middle and Owning Classes? About Democracy, Socialism and Capitalism? That should be no surprise. The Capitalist Class wants us to fear talking or even thinking about what it is doing to us, about how it has taken so much more of our nation's wealth than it deserves (wealth is created by LABOR, NOT Capital), leaving too little for the rest of us, and how it has CREATED these classes, how it actually HURTS most Americans, and especially, about possible alternatives to its unquestioned power.
I say "THINK ABOUT IT!" Think about it a LOT.
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