Perhaps all is not yet lost for the USA. Today I came across an absolute must-read for Americans who care about our future. It’s long, but worth the trouble:
Bill Moyers speaks on “Welcome to the Plutocracy” in a tribute to the late Howard Zinn. (Full text transcript at Truthout.org.)
The following Harper’s Magazine article was mentioned by Moyers in his speech: “Speak, money” by Roger D. Hodge which was followed by an interview of Rodger Hodge by Scott Horton.
Note, I’m not anti-Obama. I voted for him. I support what he says he wants to do. But I think he and all the rest of us need to see a re-visioning of his presidency in light of the economic situation. Heck, we need to see a re-visioning of the entire Democratic Party. Perhaps the recent election results will help President Obama understand that.
I also hope Republican voters can come to see some of their own economically suicidal errors, one of which is letting super-rich corporate monsters like Rupert Murdoch and the Koch brothers feed them Fox News and fund supposedly people-first campaigns like the Tea Party. In case you aren’t aware, progressive liberals are people-first too. Dennis Kucinich used “We the People” banners in his campaign as well. But he also didn’t accept corporate funding of his campaign. That led to him being shut out of debates, just as Green Party candidate Laura Wells was shut out of the California gubernatorial debate between Whitman and Brown. She was even arrested for trying to attend the debates, with valid tickets in hand. I found it interesting that in the election results news, mainstream media didn’t even bother with the numbers for third parties this time around.
We have all been hiding our heads in the sand, including the super-rich who have so far benefited, but who are as doomed as we are if current (at least since 1980) policies continue, just as the Mayan kings or the Trojans before them. You really should read Moyer’s speech. It’s a thing of beauty, aside from the depressing content.
My conclusion, and I’ve known this for a long time, as have many other voters in both parties: We need comprehensive campaign finance reform. Recent court decisions have made it clear it has to be a Constitutional Amendment. Otherwise we’ll never get our country back, and this madness will continue. Big money will continue to keep us at each other’s throats with political divisiveness, and politicians of both major parties will continue to do their bidding, until they have destroyed a once great nation for everyone, including themselves.
