Open Left

Hall of Mirrors in a House of Horrors (0.00 / 0)

I know this is the Fourth of July and not Halloween, but there is a link: the House of Horrors government that rules us.

America is truly the world's shining example of a democracy brought into being by citizens who overthrew oppressive rulers to make the people sovereign instead of hereditary monarchies (like many current U.S. allies in the Middle East.)

But by the 21st century, America's dysfunctional democracy has become an equally shining example of how a democratic government can be sabotaged by moneyed interests, like the wealthy corporations, banks and financial institutions that now determine which legislation will or will not be passed at virtually all levels of American government.

The refusal of Congress and the White House to even consider the single payer option preferred by more than 70% of Americans is a case in point.

The founding fathers of the U.S. were fearful of the threat posed by these interests, fears that Thomas Jefferson echoed in 1816 when he wrote the following:

I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our government in a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.

By the arrival of the 21st millennium, the "moneyed corporations" have used their financial leverage to defy the laws of the country by using campaign contributions to buy the votes of the large majority of the nation's lawmakers to make sure they do the corporations' bidding at the expense of the general welfare of their constituents.

The $12.8 trillion bailout of corrupt, insolvent banks is a case in point.

The end result is that when we look at our elected representatives, especially those in Congress, they do not look like or act like us, the constituents they are supposed to represent. Worse still, the actions they take do not reflect the popular will.

Walking through the halls of Congress is like walking through the Hall of Mirrors in a House of Horrors. Instead of reflecting their constituents' concerns and vital needs, like their dire need for affordable healthcare, the faces of our elected representatives are bloated and disfigured by greed and self-interest.

Instead of being racked with anxiety like the rest of us, who have either lost their health insurance, jobs and homes, or about to lose them, the vast majority of Congressional representatives are millionaires on easy street.

They enjoy a government paid health insurance they voted for themselves but refuse to provide the rest of us, homes and businesses they have financed thanks to special favors from the financial sector, and profits from investments in the very industries they are supposed to be regulating.

So let's do celebrate the courage and wisdom of the American revolutionaries who defeated the British against all odds and kicked them out of North America.

But let's also follow in their footsteps and become 21st century American revolutionaries. Let's re-invent our democracy and get control of government by kicking out the moneyed interests and the influence peddlers who have sabotaged our democracy.

 

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by: Nancy Bordier @ Sat Jul 04, 2009 at 14:08:34 PM CDT