College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Government/Political Science/

We have all noticed that the atmosphere in Washington has gotten more toxic in the last decade of so…..some blame the rise of the Tea Party, others blame the anger on the Right and yet others blame the intrusion of business or corporations since the recent ruling by the Supreme Court that allows corporations a free ride in campaign financing……..

This situation has been written about, analyzed and ranted on for some time….blame is everywhere….the GOP, the Dems, the TP or the vile spewed by pundits on the airways…….but you know from the very beginning of this republic people have seen this coming….Thomas Paine, Teddy Roosevelt, etc….but someone even before Teddy had something to say about the doings in the capital…….

(Pause here for mass anticipation)…..

Back in 1882, on a tour of the US, English political philosopher made this observation…….

You retain the forms of freedom; but, so far as I can gather, there has been a considerable loss of the substance. It is true that those who rule you do not do it by means of retainers armed with swords; but they do it through regiments of men armed with voting papers, who obey the word of command as loyally as did the dependants of the old feudal nobles, and who thus enable their leaders to override the general will, and make the community submit to their exactions as effectually as their prototypes of old. It is doubtless true that each of your citizens votes for the candidate he chooses for this or that office, from President downwards; but his hand is guided by an agency behind which leaves him scarcely any choice. “Use your political power as we tell you, or else throw it away,” is the alternative offered to the citizen. The political machinery as it is now worked, has little resemblance to that contemplated at the outset of your political life. Manifestly, those who framed your Constitution never dreamed that twenty thousand citizens would go to the poll led by a “boss.” America exemplifies at the other end of the social scale, a change analogous to that which has taken place under sundry despotisms. You know that in Japan, before the recent Revolution, the divine ruler, the Mikado, nominally supreme, was practically a puppet in the hands of his chief minister, the Shogun. Here it seems to me that “the sovereign people” is fast becoming a puppet which moves and speaks as wirepullers determine.

And guess what?  The American public HAS become the puppet of these special interests….it is no longer about the “common good” but rather about winning…….. solely.  Look at the new slogan of the GOP….”a better society for the taxpayer”……where is that society?  Lay-offs, unemployment, etc……where is that better for the taxpayer?  The attacks on unions….like they are not taxpayers?  All so much propaganda….maybe we need to make it official and create a Ministry of Propaganda…….all the lame but some how cute slogans are nothing more than that….PROPAGANDA.

From a CNN poll…….

Given the choice between a candidate who agrees with them on the issues or a candidate who can defeat President Barack Obama in 2012, a new national poll indicates Republicans overwhelming want a winner.According to CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday, nearly seven out of ten Republicans say they would prefer a GOP presidential nominee who can top Obama in the next election, with 29 percent saying a nominee who agrees with them on every issue that matters the most is more important.

It is all about winning and NOT what may be best for the people and the country…….this toxic atmosphere will do NOTHING to improve the country and move it forward……….the inaction of the government is slowly driving a stake into the very heart of the country…without change our days are numbered….. sad to say……