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- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Robert C. Koehler
Thud goes hope. Whatever the causes of "voter dissatisfaction" and voter despair that gave the party of destruction so much power back, I sit in dread the next morning not so much of the results as of the phenomenon of openly purchased elections.
"The midterms have shattered spending records for a nonpresidential contest, providing a likely blueprint for the frenzy to come when the
So the
What we're witnessing in the United States, as democracy becomes an ever hollower shell, is the entrenchment of a corporatocracy, which right now wraps itself in a tea party cloak, creating the illusion that it stands for something other than its own interests -- and that voters are making some kind of reasoned statement to power, that the American little guy is speaking in a collective voice rather than being manipulated by outside forces via the enormous power of television advertising.
"The 5-4 decision in Citizens United vs. the
"These outside groups are basically the nameless, faceless assassins who come in at night to take out the opponents," the
Nearly
"Overall, for every
In my naivete, I keep believing in a textbook democracy of informed voters making serious decisions that reflect a reverence for the electoral process. To be enfranchised means to have a voice in our collective future. I still believe we have such a voice, but it is increasingly ill-served by the system that purports to protect it. Electronic voting has given us unverifiable election results and the
And corporate domination of what we talk about and what we don't talk about -- e.g., the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and their effect on our bleeding economy -- is far too compliantly accommodated by the mainstream media, which serves up an issue-lite, post-modern democracy to the American public pumped up with fake, "Monday Night Football" excitement.
As I noted at the time of the
This mortal wound is manifested not only in who wins and who loses, though this is part of it, but in the choices we see available to us as we cast our votes. The mediocre turnout that characterizes American elections reflects the fact that most people of voting age -- even most registered voters -- don't believe these choices matter much in their lives.
I believe this is because the party that never gets voted out of power is the party of organized money.
Available at Amazon.com:
The Backlash: Right-Wing Radicals, High-Def Hucksters, and Paranoid Politics in the Age of Obama
The Disappearing Center: Engaged Citizens, Polarization, and American Democracy
The Virtues of Mendacity: On Lying in Politics
Bush on the Home Front: Domestic Policy Triumphs and Setbacks
The Political Fix: Changing the Game of American Democracy, from the Grassroots to the White House
AMERICAN POLITICS
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The Party of Organized Money | Politics
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