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BLOOMBERG: WRONG MAN, RIGHT IDEA
by Jack Random
 Only in America could the withdrawal of a mayor from a major political party cause a rumble that shakes the timber of an already crowded forest of presidential wannabes.
The polls are in. The people have spoken. We are not pleased with a Democratic congress more concerned with political posturing than taking real and effective measures to rein in a White House out of control. We are not content with a field of candidates pitting pandering Republicans against back peddling Democrats.
When not a single viable candidate
has the guts or conviction to step forward and declare that this nation
has no right to maintain a grossly illegal and immoral occupation
indefinitely, then the people have little choice but to lose confidence
in our political system.
The Iraq war rages on, the casualty
rate rises and the White House warns that failure is a cause for
further escalation, yet the leading Democratic senatorial candidates
for president wait until the cause is lost before registering their
votes against the latest war-funding bill. The betrayal is almost
incomprehensible.
When legislation on immigration, energy
policy, labor rights, trade policy and virtually every major issue is
so nuanced and compromised that neither the left nor the right can
support it, then we have arrived at an all too familiar dilemma: Both
sides against the people.
Whomever these partisans represent (and we know only too well who that is), they do not represent us.
In
a democracy, the majority rules. In a functioning democracy, elected
leaders serve the interests of the majority while protecting the rights
of minorities. Barring a coup or a revolution, when a democracy fails
its primary function, the culprit is invariably corruption.
Americans
like to believe that corruption can only contradict democracy in third
world nations but the evidence is compelling that elite money interests
have so corrupted American politics that it now rivals the worst of
banana republics. The only difference is that while banana republic
governments flaunt the laws of the nation and international commerce,
the American government bends the law to elite corporate interests.
This
is where we are as a nation and this is why we have arrived in this
desperate place. Elite international corporations with no interest in
the affairs of state beyond the profit margin are allowed to finance
both major parties and its field of candidates with absolute impunity
in the guise of free speech. We cannot be surprised at whose interests
dominate all three branches of government regardless the party in
power.
A recent presentation by Lucy Komisar of the Tax
Justice Network at the Conference on Taming the Giant Corporation
revealed the full extent of corporate dominance and the reason why
bipartisan political contributions is only good business.
“The
tax haven racket,” said Ms Komisar, “is the biggest scam in the world.
It’s run by the international banks with the cooperation of the world’s
financial powers for the benefit of corporations and the mega-rich.”
Relying
on official estimates, literally trillions of dollars are shielded
annually from taxes by fraud, laundering and complex evasion schemes,
yet virtually nothing is done to prevent it.
The usual
suspects include Goldman Sachs, Citibank, Microsoft, Halliburton,
Colgate-Palmolive, Texaco, Chevron, Goodyear, Pepsi, JP Morgan, MCI
Worldcom, General Motors, Phillips Petroleum and Northrop Grumman. [1]
In
this light, the next time you find yourself wondering why seemingly
intelligent and educated politicians can take no constructive actions
on the most obvious measures – like global climate change, rebuilding
New Orleans, immigration and the war – ask yourself one simple
question: Who profits?
So it is not surprising that the
prospect of a viable (i.e., billionaire) independent candidate would
rumble through the political landscape, causing some to fall eerily
silent while others issue tired warnings of dire consequences.
(Let’s
get it straight for once and all: George W. Bush lost two presidential
elections without any assistance from Ralph Nader – a fact that would
be universally accepted if not for the conspiracy of silence by both
major parties and their co-conspirators in the mainstream press.)
The
problem of course is that Michael Bloomberg is one of them – the head
of a multinational corporate propaganda machine. Aside from the fact
that his position on the most pressing issue of the day (the war in
Iraq) is indecipherable, asking Bloomberg to represent the interests of
common people is like asking Halliburton to take charge of the
Environmental Protection Agency.
It is conceivable that a
multi-billionaire, out of guilt or deeply rooted conviction, could
advocate the systemic changes that our fading democracy demands but
Michael Bloomberg is not that man.
Nevertheless, the need to
break the back of the two-party stranglehold on American politics is so
severe that a Bloomberg candidacy would deserve thoughtful
consideration if and only if he comes out against the war and the
occupation of Iraq in no uncertain terms.
Today’s political
establishment is so far removed from the realities of our daily lives
there should be little doubt: A well-financed third party or
independent campaign could capture the White House.
That would be an American revolution worthy of our democratic ideal.
Jazz.
[1] “Tax Haven Racket” by Ralph Nader, Common Dreams, June 12, 2007.
JACK
RANDOM IS THE AUTHOR OF THE JAZZMAN CHRONICLES (CROW DOG PRESS) AND
GHOST DANCE INSURRECTION (DRY BONES PRESS) – AVAILABLE AT AMAZON.COM.
THE CHRONICLES HAVE APPEARED ON THE ALBION MONITOR,
PEACE-EARTH-JUSTICE, THE NATIONAL FREE PRESS, PACIFIC FREE PRESS,
LEFTWARD, DISSIDENT VOICE AND COUNTERPUNCH. SEE RANDOM JACK:
WWW.JAZZMANCHRONICLES.BLOGSPOT.COM
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