[R-G] [BillTottenWeblog] Political Parties, Corporations and the Truth

[Bill Totten]

by Timothy V Gatto

Countercurrents.org (July 26 2008)


In this article I am going to make one last attempt to clarify my views
on this presidential race, US foreign policy, the economy and what we
are experiencing in this new era as far as our civil liberties, the
constant threats (real and perceived) to our "security" and the
increasing gap between the rich and the not so rich in this country. One
could write a book about each of these subjects, putting everything in
one article is a daunting task. I'm not an expert nor am I an economist,
diplomat or a military genius. What I am attempting to do is separate
fact from fiction as I see it. I'm sure that many will take exception to
what I have to say and that's understandable, we all can't be mirror
images of each other. I ask your indulgence beforehand.

Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has emerged as the
leading superpower. This is not because we are better or smarter than
other nations; it is because we have basically been on a war-footing
since World War II and have outspent more on our military than the next
twenty countries combined. When the Soviet Union fell, we had no reason
to continue to fund our military at Cold War levels, but our economy was
so dependent on our Military Industrial Complex. The United States could
have shifted its focus from producing weapons and funding our huge
military machine to projects like rebuilding our infrastructure and
finding alternative energy sources to reduce our dependence on foreign
oil. The problem with changing our focus from military spending to a
peacetime economy was that the defense industry sector was a key player
in our political structure. The influence of right wing conservatives
that made up the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) that called
for projecting American power throughout the world and installing
friendly democracies in key strategic regions warranted continuing the
high level of military spending.

During the Clinton and then the Bush administrations, the Federal
Government basically took the hands-off approach as far as regulating
business. Huge mergers, predatory lending practices, free-trade
agreements and tax breaks to companies that were outsourcing their labor
force to other nations led to decreased competition and contributed to
rising unemployment. The practice of cutting benefits and pay cuts as
cost saving measures while CEOs and other top echelon executives were
paid in the hundreds of millions, even though their companies were
running in the red, faced little opposition from labor unions that had
lost much of their clout while others worked hand in hand with
management. The disparity between the rich and the poor increased so
that now, the ten percent of the wealthiest families in the US hold 71%
of this nation's wealth, leaving 29% of wealth to be distributed by the
remaining ninety percent.

Some sectors of the economy, Big Oil, the Pharmaceutical Industry,
Banking and Investment, Insurance companies, the Defense industry and
Lawyers made heavy contributions to politicians, gaining unprecedented
clout in regard to influencing government policy. Huge contributions to
political campaigns became essential if a politician wanted to keep his
or her job. Campaigns became more expensive and many elected officials
realized that corporate support was a necessity. The media was bought up
by corporate entities and the large networks were bought up five or six
corporate groups. The era of networks owned by networks ended. The large
media groups were now owned by corporate entities, mostly owned by the
defense industry, primarily GE and Westinghouse, two of the largest
defense contractors in the country. This and "corporate personhood" that
guaranteed corporations first amendment rights, meant that much of the
content in the mainstream media, was controlled by a few select
industries. Self-censorship of network content in order not to incur the
wrath of owners or advertisers became paramount to the network
executives. The United States gradually entered a phase of corporate
influence that some call the "Corporacracy". The government eventually
became not a "Government by the people and for the people", becoming a
"Government by the corporations and for the corporations".

The attacks of September 11 2001 ushered in The Global War on Terrorism.
This became the replacement for the Cold War and justified the huge
expenditures for the military, keeping the defense industries and the
stock market thriving. Eisenhower's warning to "Beware the
Military-Industrial-Complex" had become a reality. The largest slice of
the nation's discretionary budget is spent on the defense industry. The
fall of the Soviet Union meant a larger NATO, and many more overseas
military bases for the Armed Forces. We immediately invaded Afghanistan,
holding Osama Bin Laden responsible for 9/11, even though, to this day,
a criminal investigation has never been done. The ultimate result was
the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the largest agency
created since the administration of President Franklin Roosevelt.

The Global War on Terrorism ushered in many new laws to protect the
security of the United States. New laws such as the Patriot Act have
been passed, which allows the government to search a citizen's home
without their knowledge or presence, and with no obligation to even tell
the person after the fact, if he or she happens to be unfortunate enough
to be deemed a "terrorist suspect" or a "terrorist sympathizer". There
are many more provisions such as a "No-Fly List" that prevents a
suspected terrorist, or a terrorist sympathizer, from flying on a
commercial airliner. Passports are now required to enter or come in from
Mexico and Canada as well as other nations that previously did not
require a passport. The new passport now carries a chip that contains
much of your personal information. The Military Commissions Act of 2006
allows the Federal Government to arrest anyone without a warrant, and to
hold them indefinitely without counsel, and to try them in a military
tribunal. Extraordinary Rendition is a practice of seizing individuals
suspected of terrorism and flying them to nations that practice torture
so as to extract information vital to "national security".

The John Warner Defense Bill (the re-vamped Insurrection Act) allows the
President to federalize State National Guards and use them as law
enforcement in any US State or territory over the objections of the
State Governor. This effectively repeals Posse Comitatus that was passed
in 1867 that prohibits Federal troops from acting as law enforcement in
order that the military could not be used to effectively promote a
dictatorship. These laws that were designed to promote the security of
the country against terrorists, but these laws have also drastically
reduced the civil liberties of American Citizens. The writ of Habeas
Corpus has effectively been eliminated; this is the right to be
presented with the evidence of a crime, and the right to be tried by a
jury of peers, and the right to have a swift speedy trial that was
written into the cornerstone of English and American common-law, the
Magna Charta in 1215.

Other violations of civil liberties such as American citizens being
subject to electronic surveillance and wiretapping without a warrant
have also taken place. In violation of the law which established the
FISA Court which requires the Federal Government to request a warrant at
least 72 hours after the fact, were ignored. Presidential Directive 51
which establishes continuity of government in the event of a "national
emergency" declared by the President has been written. This document,
which basically gives dictatorial power to the President without
authorization by Congress, has parts of it that are classified as
"secret". This directive is so secret, that members of the Senate and
House Intelligence Committees that possess the highest security
clearances have not been allowed to see it. What could possibly be so
secret that members of Congressional Intelligence Committee members
can't see it?

Many Americans disapprove of many of the decisions by the Executive
Branch and Congress. The Bush Administration has been seen by many as an
advocate of executive power and a danger to civil liberties. Allegations
of torture and admissions of water-boarding, sleep depravation,
sensatory deprivation, subjecting suspected terrorists to extreme heat
and cold, slapping them around, being threatened by dogs and many other
examples have surfaced. International Law on the treatment of prisoners
has been broken. Many people around the world, and some people in
America, expect the International Court to eventually file charges
against members of the US Government, to include President Bush and
Vice-President Cheney. Impeachment articles against President and
Vice-President have been introduced in Congress.

Everything written in this article has been illustrated to underscore
the issues that we currently face as a nation. We are coming up on a
Presidential election that will determine who will succeed this
President. We are faced with a world that believes the allegations of
torture by our government. We invaded Iraq on the premise that Saddam
had WMD's which proved to be false, killing over a million Iraqi's and
displacing another two million. We have almost destroyed their
infrastructure. We have used over two hundred fifty tons of depleted
uranium in our ordinance that is still on the ground emitting radiation
that has caused the level of childhood leukemia to rise by six hundred
percent (600%). Deformed children and the increase in all kinds of
cancer have been reported. American soldiers have been exposed to
radiation from DU and this affects their DNA and is responsible for many
babies born in the US that fail to thrive and many children that have
suffered their hearts exploding at four to eight months of age
(www.BeyondTreason.com). The economy is crippled by rampant capitalism
and deregulation. American citizens are losing their homes to
foreclosures due to predatory banking practices and the government is
bailing out the banks and ignoring the homeowners. People are losing
health benefits due to unemployment, firms that hire on a part-time 35
hour work week, and cost-cutting measures. 42% of Americans have either
no health insurance or are under-insured. Unemployment has reached a 25
year high.

The Republicans are offering up Senator John McCain for the presidency.
By all that has been said so far, he earnestly expects to "win" in Iraq
without even proposing what the definition of "winning" is. He has said
that he will follow the economic policies of George W Bush. That means
more "hands-off" behavior when it comes to regulating certain business
practices that are hurting the economy. With a McCain presidency we can
expect more Federal bailouts for banks and other industries, and no
relief for the middle-class. We can expect to see more tax breaks for
the wealthy, so that the divide between the Middle-Class and the
wealthy, is even greater. We can expect more free trade agreements that
could lead to more out-sourcing. We can look forward to more of our
civil liberties lost to "protecting national security". We can look
forward to a continuation of the Global War on Terror and continued
defense spending at the current rate as our economy becomes even more
crippled and we stay dependent on fossil fuels that are heading the
causes of global warming.

The Democrats are offering up Senator Barack Obama. This is a junior
Senator with no executive experience. The Democratic presumptive nominee
has already committed another two Army Divisions to the war in
Afghanistan while leaving a "residual force" in Iraq, thus continuing
this premise of the Global War on Terror. He has not committed to
lowering the defense budget. He has reneged on his opposition to strike
immunity from prosecution for illegal electronic eavesdropping on
American citizens by the telecoms. He has not come forward in opposition
to the Patriot Act and the other draconian acts committed by the Bush
Administration. He has pandered to AIPAC by threatening Iran with attack
and supporting Jerusalem as the Israeli Capitol under Israeli control.
He has threatened to invade Pakistan to fight the Taliban thereby
increasing the scope of the war. The corporate control of the media and
the body politic has not been addressed. The liberal wing of the
Democratic Party has been virtually ignored. Senator Obama snubbed his
nose at Netroots Nation, the so-called "Progressive" bloggers of
Democrats and liberals. Senator Obama claims that he receives most of
his financial support from small donations of middle income supporters.
This is a not exactly the truth. Investment bankers and hedge fund
managers are among his largest donors. "Bundled" contributions are the
bread and butter of the Obama campaign.

The world sees the United States as the biggest supporter of Israel's
right-wing government. Israel continues to build settlements on the West
Bank and keeps the inhabitants of Gaza in a virtual "lockdown".
Bulldozers still raze homes in Gaza and unarmed young men are shot on a
regular basis by the Israeli Defense Force. The J Street Coalition of
liberal Jews claims to represent sixty percent of Jews in America.
AIPAC, which J Street claims only represents thirty percent of Jewish
Americans is the target of Senator Obama's affection. Why? What is it
about AIPAC that draws politicians in like moths to a light? The answer
I come up with is money. Money and the fact that Republicans that lean
hard right support AIPAC along with religious zealots like Reverend
Hagee who seems to believe that once Jerusalem is entirely in Israeli
hands, God can then fulfill the Bible's prophesy and start the "rapture"
and Hagee and his followers can enter the kingdom of heaven. I wonder if
they'll meet the Muslim suicide bombers and their 72 virgins hanging out
at Saint Peter's gate.

The two corporate political parties have their two corporate candidates.
I see Cynthia McKinney as the favored candidate of the true left in
America. She has ballot access and she isn't afraid to condemn the loss
of civil liberties in America, nor does she hesitate to criticize the
pandering of both corporate politicians to the military industrial
complex. She is highly critical of Israel and also speaks out on the
corporate controlled media. The Greens, which in my mind are born-again
feudalists, are extremely lucky to have her. She just might qualify for
matching campaign funds for the Green Party. Brian Moore of the
Socialist Party is, in my opinion, the best candidate ... but only
intellectually. The lack of ballot access for the Socialists, and the
hangover from the Cold War, leaves many Americans afraid of the name
Socialist. I believe that if the same corporate control of the two
political parties, that are essentially not too different from one
another continues, those Americans that find the divide between the rich
and middle class (if we still have a middle class), will find the
message of the Socialists more attractive than at any time in the past.
Their support of strong unions and a return to a peacetime economy will
become much more attractive. While Senator Obama gets the Democrats
misty-eyed with his talk of change and tearing down walls, in reality,
change will be the last thing we'll see in an Obama presidency, and the
walls of distrust between the corporatists, the wealthy and the rest of
us, will be higher than ever. Until real limits are legislated on
campaign financing, the corporate money will continue to rule the two
major political parties, along with the corporate media that will
promote them.

Unless Americans start to look past the hype that the mainstream media
provides to their myopic vision of this so-called two-party system, the
future seems bleak indeed for the average middle-class citizens. To get
a clear understanding of modern politics today, one needs only to follow
the money in the political arena to see who will emerge as the victor in
this particular election. It seems to me the cruelest joke that is being
played today is on all of the young people in this country that see a
champion in Barack Obama and his mantra of "change". I believe that the
disillusionment that they will feel when the changes they are hoping for
fail to materialize, it will bring a backlash of epic proportions. Maybe
then the Socialists will start looking pretty good in a world separated
by those that have and those that don't.

timgatto at hotmail.com

www.liberalpro.blogspot.com

http://www.countercurrents.org/gatto260708.htm


TO POST A COMMENT, OR TO READ COMMENTS POSTED BY OTHERS, please click
on the word "comment" highlighted at the end of the version of this
essay posted at http://billtotten.blogspot.com/