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Obvious But Ignored

John Duncklee

    It is obvious that our system of government has been shattered. Greed employing money has been used to buy politicians, and it matters not which “side of the aisle” is considered; both sides are guilty.
    It is interesting to note that close to a majority of the congressmen and senators are among the 1%, or millionaires and billionaires. Therefore, it is not surprising that these elected legislators, elected by the 99% are reluctant to represent the 99%. They do as they are told by the 1% that supplies the huge amounts of bribes through what they call lobbyists. The representatives actually represent themselves in addition to the 1%. Therefore it is difficult at best to refer to our government as being “by the people, and for the people”. It would be more accurate to say that our government is “by the 1% of the people, for that 1% of the people.”
    Politics is like a wild card in a card game in that whenever any legislation is not to the advantage of the wealthy, it can lumber along or never be put on the floor of the Congress and never become law. Then, the Congress can tell the 99% that they tried and failed because of some sort of disagreement by some obscure member or condition, or even a rule.
    The situation seems to be ignored, especially by Republicans, the party that can be said to have evolved almost one hundred eighty degrees from what it once was in principle. Those 99% of Republicans fail to realize that when they vote for their party’s candidates they are voting for legislators who will adamantly represent the 1% and themselves. The Democrats are also guilty of ignoring that their representatives are also loyal to corporate lobbyists.
    Far too much skullduggery persists. A sad example is the method that one party has discovered that disenfranchises voters by passing state laws requiring special documents that many of the minorities either do not have or those documents are too expensive for their purse strings. The intent is obvious and another excellent reason for action against such unfairness and undemocratic maneuvering.
    As a result of what might be called a lackadaisical electorate, the system we now have in Washington is laced with bribery and inconsistent promises made to fool those that go to the polls to vote. And, to take this further to the summit of the problems the country now faces, we have seen the highest court of the land, The Supreme Court, neglect fairness of interpretation and allow corporations to become living organisms legally allowed to contribute to political campaigns without revealing the amount of the bribe. Is it any wonder why there are masses of people “occupying” cities throughout the country? It also seems that this money monopoly has created unrest among populations all over the world.
    The solution may be to throw money out of politics. However, this would be impossible unless enough patriots stepped forward from the masses and voted the current politicians from both parties out of office. They would also need to pass legislation to eliminate money from politics and pass laws to strongly define and restrict the Supreme Court to interpreting the Constitution without leaning toward any special segment of society.
    The United States of America is a land of mountains, valleys, prairies, deserts and rivers. We are fortunate for that diversity. However, it is time to return to a level playing field when it comes to politics, or the trouble that looms today will become more serious.

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