By RALPH NADER
From COUNTERPUNCH.COM:
The 18 day non-violent Egyptian protests for freedom raise the question: is America next? Were Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine around, they would likely say “what are we waiting for?” They would be appalled by the concentration of economic and political power in such a few hands. Remember how often these two men warned about concentrated power.
Our Declaration of Independence (1776) listed grievances against King George III. A good number of them could have been made against “King” George W. Bush who not only brushed aside Congressional War-making authority under the Constitution but plunged the nation through lies into extended illegal wars which he conducted in violation of international law. Even conservative legal scholars such as Republicans Bruce Fein and former Judge Andrew Napolitano believe he and Dick Cheney still should be prosecuted for war and other related crimes. The conservative American Bar Association sent George W. Bush three “white papers” in 2005-2006 that documented his distinct violations of the Constitution he had sworn to uphold.
Here at home, the political system is a two-party dictatorship whose gerrymandering results in most electoral districts being one-party fiefdoms. The two Parties block the freedom of third parties and independent candidates to have equal access to the ballots and to the debates. Another barrier to competitive democratic elections is big money, largely commercial in source, which marinates most politicians in cowardliness and sinecurism…
Click here to read the full article.
I suspect that after he is gone, Nader’s work exposing the corporate political duopoly will be much more important than seat belts, the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, FOIA et al. even though right now he is most hated for exposing those truths.
Maybe it is because he is most hated for this that these truths about the corruption of our political system are so important. It has become a mirage of a democracy that only allows corporate-approved candidates much as the mullahs in Iran approve the candidates that can run for office there. Ours is just a more sophisticated manipulation that is therefore harder to see. Nader saw it before many because he was engrossed in so many issues.
I’m having the same experience. Over and over I see concentrated corporate power manipulating laws and elections, on issue after issue. Very sad.
KZ