It's been said before. Its been said here before. And, if you were to look at all of today's comments, you'd probably see that somewhere, someone said it again today.
I call it The Main Problem.
So what is The Main Problem?
It's the number one reason why most of our elected officials suck so much. The plain fact of the matter, the blatant truth, the bottom line is this... most politicians don't work for We The People. Instead, they work for Campaign Donor, Inc. That's the main problem that most of all our other problems stem from.
It's not complicated. Just name virtually any issue and it becomes clear as a bell. Health care reform, financial reform, unsustainable defense budgets, war, bankruptcy laws, oil regulation, climate change, corporate income taxes, and the list goes on and on.
Folks, the truth is this: Until we solve The Main Problem, we're just playing pick-up-sticks with our butt cheeks.
Am I Crazy?
If a professional sports team were found guilty of bribing the referees, it would be a major scandal. It would be printed in 96 point font across the front page of every major newspaper in America. People would call the referees corrupt and there would be cries for banning the team that made the bribe. Of this, I am certain. Why? Because no one likes a rigged game. Indeed, what is the point of even playing? There wouldn't be a single American that would think it's a good idea to allow referees to be bribed. Not. A. Single. One.
Yet, if a large corporation gives a Senator $300,000 in campaign contributions and that Senator works to help that corporation, no one in this country blinks an eye. It's all just taken in stride. After all, this is how things are done in American politics don't-cha-know.
Let's just think about this for a second. Exactly when was it that we all got together, looked at each other and said, "I'm OK with this." How in the fuck did we become so brainwashed into thinking this is even remotely close to being acceptable? It is the people that have fought, died and paid for this country a million times over. Why do we get shuffled to the rear of the line when it comes to representation.
Well, you know what, friends and neighbors, I'm not okay with this. Not by a long shot. And you shouldn't be okay with this either.
The corporations laugh at the American people. They say, "Look at how stupid these people are to allow us to bribe their elected officials. How dumb can you fucking get?"
The Supreme Court laughs at the American people too. They say, "You people are so stupid that we can say anything and you'll just accept it. We can even tell you that bribing public officials is completely legal because corporations have rights to freedom of speech. Bribery is now freedom of speech!!!"
Of course, the politicians are laughing all the way to the bank. They say, "You idiots. You know that I've received millions of dollars from Campaign Donor, Inc. yet you still vote for me and have the gall to actually believe I'm going to fight for your rights. Wow, there really is a sucker born every minute. God Bless America!"
Other countries join in, pointing their fingers at us. They wonder how we can have the audacity to pretend that we live in a democracy when our public officials openly and shamelessly accept bribes.
America is not a democracy. It's all just pretend.
Invariably, one of you will ask me, "Okay, so what can we do about it?"
All I can say is this...
The politicians won't vote to defund themselves. Ever. The Supreme Court won't vote to protect us. Ever. We have already proven this much to be true.
Ever hear the saying, "If it's to be, it's up to me." Well, let me paraphrase that by saying, "If it's a must, then it's up to us."
Us. Americans. We The People. All of us.
But as long as they keep us fighting each other, red vs. blue, left vs. right, elephants vs. donkeys, etc. then we'll never ever be able to change things. There will never be an "us" and there will never be a true democracy.
United we stand, divided we fall. And that, fellow citizen, is The Main Problem.
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