As part of the biggest Fourth of July celebration in St. Louis, Missouri, one could see corporate flags waving on the same staffs as American flags, which is apparently exactly where they belong. To me, this arrangement symbolizes the almost complete corporate take-over of the United States.
We’re in an ominous environment right now. We have a thoroughly corrupt Congress (Dick Durbin: “The banks frankly own the place”) and a Supreme Court filled with corporation-idolizing free market fundamentalists. If you think it’s already bad, here’s what’s about to happen. This upcoming ruling by the United States Supreme Court will make clean money legislation unworkable. Citizens United was apparently just the beginning of a terrible trend.
There are relatively few politicians speaking up with passion. Sheldon Whitehouse is one of the few. We need massive marches across America. We need millions of people to turn off their damned TVs and iPods and get up and march, but I don’t see it happening. Most of the people I talk with don’t care that money buys elections, even while they go to Fourth of July celebrations and give lip service to “America is the world’s greatest country.”
That's capitalism, baby! Go ahead, throw sand in your eyes and hope that you still belong to the mystical middle class! Yeah!
I've mentioned this display of flags to several other people, and most of them just shrug like it's not a big deal. I'm not a traditional patriot, but this display shocked me. There are elaborate traditions for showing respect for the flag (just Google "showing respect for the flag" and you'll find sites like this: http://www.htflag.com/HTFetiquette.htm ) but apparently there no problem hoisting Old Glory next to flags for money making enterprises on the holiest civic holiday we have.
I've just finished readin g "The Wrecking Crew" by Thomas Franks.
The book, details the decades long takeover of our government by free-market fundamentalists, whose ultimate goal is to convert this nation from a democracy into a plutocracy (a government by the wealthy).
The book is very well documented, and makes the case that government regulatory agencies have been rendered powerless by political appointment department heads who were politically opposed to the mission of their department, and lacked the proctical knowledge to direct the agency.
The trend began under the Regan presidency, and continued under every Republican president since them, making the biggest changes when Republicans controlled the house or the senate.